


Still Jack and Daniel Series 1 - No Yellow Brick Road 2- Egypt

by Annejackdanny



Series: Still Jack and Daniel Series 1 - Not in Kansas anymore/No Yellow Brick Road [10]
Category: Stargate SG-1, The Highlander Series
Genre: Adventure, Kidfic, Little Daniel - Freeform, M/M, h/c
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-06-04
Packaged: 2017-11-06 15:46:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 81,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/420556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annejackdanny/pseuds/Annejackdanny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Daniel are going to Egypt... :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Egypt I

**No Yellow Brick Road**

**II**

**Egypt**

**I**

“So, where is it, Danny?”

“Over there. See the big pyramid on the right? Doctor Langford’s dig was a little left from it.”

“Let's take a look.”

“Okay. Come on!”

Jack watched Daniel as he started to dash  away  from the parking lot, leaving a desert sand cloud in his wake. With his little backpack, his desert camo jacket and the bandana covering his head, he looked almost as though he was going off world. O'Neill followed him slowly as he adjusted his sunglasses. He felt the warmth reflect from the sand and the sun on his arms and neck. In the distance he could see the heat haze above the endless sand dunes. 

In Cairo it had been surprisingly cool, compared to the heat out here. It was October and while the sun was still warm, it had only been 75 degrees in the city. Out here, however, the sun was burning. 

“Hey, Jack! Don't dawdle!” Daniel shouted, still running. Then he suddenly stopped, jerking a hand up to his ear.

“Ow!” Grimacing, he shook his head and rubbed his left ear.

When Jack reached him Daniel tried to grin, but it looked more like a grimace. Worrying, O'Neill put a hand on the boy's shoulder. “You okay, buddy?”

Daniel shrugged his hand off and started walking again. “Yeah, I'm fine. It's just the ear again. I still can't hear properly.”

“It hurts,” the colonel stated quietly, taking a good look at Daniel. The kid was a little pale and there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

“It just stung for a second.”

“You don't look so good. Maybe we should go back to the hotel, take a nap,” Jack suggested, his hand back on Daniel's shoulder, forcing him to stop walking. 

“But we just got here. You wanted to see where the... _Chapaa'ai_ had been discovered and we wanted to go into the pyramids,” Daniel protested.

“We'll come back in the afternoon,” Jack said. Seeing where the Stargate had been unburied wasn't too high on his priority list anyway. But he had figured Daniel might want to show him, so he had suggested they go and check out the place. 

“I'm all right. It was just the rough landing yesterday. My ears are popping again. Can we go now?”

O'Neill put a hand on the kid’s forehead. It felt a little warm, but he couldn't tell if it was light fever or simply due to the heat. And they had had a slightly rough landing yesterday when they arrived in Cairo. So maybe he was overdoing it again and Daniel was right to be annoyed with him. Yet, the munchkin looked exhausted and Jack couldn't get rid of the feeling something was wrong.

His Daniel-radar was humming loudly.

But Daniel had already turned and was walking down the sandy path towards the old dig sites.

W ith a sigh, Jack followed as he let his eyes wander over the plateau in front of them. He groaned inwardly at the sight of ruins, rocks and sand. And tourists who were going all "Ah" and "Oh" about said rocks and ruins. But the mainstream of them moved away from them now, to visit the pyramids.

The hotel pool and a colorful drink with one of those little paper umbrellas seemed so tempting right now. Or imported beer. Cool water to swim in, and sun. Nice.

Well, sun Jack got. Sun and a water canteen. He could have just stayed home and walked through the gate to Abydos to get that. Would have saved him lots of money... well, okay, Daniel had paid partly for this trip. But all the hours on a plane with a Daniel at his side who’ d either  been asleep or  reading had been no fun. The food had been so-so, the movie s boring, and Jack had hardly been able to hold himself back from asking, "Are we there yet?“

Now he was in Egypt.

And he had known how it would be.

Sandy.

Hot.

Iraq had been like that. And Jack's memories of that time weren't exactly wonderful. 

But it was hard to dwell when he looked at Daniel who was in his element. Jack followed him  along half derelict walls, climbed over piled rocks and through narrow little alleys between the tombs of whoever. On the bright side he didn't have to look for aliens who might be hiding behind the walls. Then again, Jack never really stopped being on alert. His eyes were scanning the area, taking in the groups of people walk ing past the pyramids, the camel touts who were trying to coax the tourists into taking a ride. 

Then the kid turned around a corner and when Jack followed him, he was gone.

Only Daniel...

O'Neill stopped dead in his tracks, staring down at where his little charge should be walking. 

Dammit. 

"Daniel!" 

There was a muffled answer from the right accompanied by fast little feet running away from him. Jack took a closer look around and spotted a dark entrance into a sandy stone building. When he reached the entrance and passed through he had to duck his head. Dust rippl ed on his cap and into the back of his shirt.

"Daniel?!"

Jack rushed down a small gloomy corridor leading into a room with illuminated walls, covered with painted reliefs. Daniel stood in front of one of them, his small hands wandering over the fissured rock. "I remember this," he said in awe. "I have been here a couple of times."

Jack jerked his cap from his head and shook off the sand, then slapped it back on his tousled hair. He stepped next to the boy, his heartbeat falling back into normal pace. This wasn't some dark strange place on a foreign planet. No Goa'uld, no flaky alien or any other threat. It was an ancient tourist attraction. 

"Look at this, Jack. These walls are full of ancient Egypt daily life images. There's a carpenter, goldsmiths, jewelers... this is from more than four thousand years ago. And look that guy over there is fishing... there are musicians, too," Daniel rambled, his arms flailing at the bright wall, pointing in every direction at once. Then he grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him over to another wall with more pictures on it.

"This is Iymery with his family. His father Shepseskafankh has his mastaba next to him."

Shepseska... Jack didn't even try to get that name. He put his free hand on Daniel's shoulder and turned him around so he was facing him instead of the walls. "Daniel." 

"What?" The kid stared at him, obviously not getting what he had done this time.

"Wandering off?" Jack raised a meaningful eyebrow.

"Oh. I didn't realize..."

"You know what's gonna happen if you do that again, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Daniel tried to brush Jack's hand off without success. "Ja-ack."

"Just to make sure you remember."

"We'll go back to the hotel and stay in our rooms for the rest of the day. But..." Daniel pouted.

“No 'but'.”

Daniel looked pinched for a moment, then his face relaxed and he nodded. “Okay.” 

Satisfied for now, Jack let him go. 

As soon as Daniel was free again, he walked alongside the wall he had been looking at. "Look at this! Here are the names of travelers from the nineteenth centuries who have carved their names in the stones. They used limestone to build the pyramids and tombs. So carving names in it wasn't difficult.

"Hey. Want to leave your 'I was here' note, too?" Jack asked him with a smirk.

Daniel gave him a dirty look. "Don't you dare! It's forbidden to do that now because it would damage the limestone if people were still doing that."

He started to rub his skinny arms and Jack noticed he was shivering a little. “Come on, Doctor Jackson. Let's go out into the sun again. And you better stay in sight this time."

Five minutes later they were walking between the tombs again and Jack's thoughts returned to the pool and a cool drink.

“Here it is,” Daniel said finally when they reached a wide sandy place. Jack could make out old stone steps in front of him in the sand. 

“They were searching for remains of tombs when they accidentally almost literally stumbled over the gate,” Daniel explained. 

“So this is where Ra had come through, right? When he played his little god act.” 

“Yes. He came to get sacrifices and to take chosen people with him to make them hosts...” Daniel stopped mid sentence and took a brief look around to see if there might be people in ear shot. But except for a couple with a girl at the far end of the plateau, there was noone close to them. Most people were more interested in the pyramids and the Sphinx. 

Jack turned around and let his eyes wander over the place. “You know I always get confused with all these gods. I mean, I know Ra was something like the god of gods. The one who was bossing all the other gods around. But these," he gestured at the pyramids in the distance, "were not Ra's temples. It says the great pyramid was the temple of... uh... Khufu?"

"Yep. Also known as Cheops to the Greeks," Daniel said helpfully.

"Yeah, whoever..."

"He wasn't the first one who built, or rather his slaves built, his own temple here. Giza has actually been a Necropolis almost since the beginning of Pharaonic Egypt. A tomb just on the outskirts of the Giza site dates from the reign of the First Dynasty Pharaoh Wadj, and jar sealing discovered in a tomb in the southern part of Giza mention the Second Dynasty Pharaoh Ninetjer. But it was the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khufu who placed Giza forever at the heart of funerary devotion. It became a city of the dead that made the cities of the living nearby look like dwarf villages."

"You can say that again. This whole death cult is a little creepy," Jack muttered 

"Well, we know they weren't necessarily dead when they lay down in their sarcophagus," Daniel pointed out.

"Creepy." Jack shrugged. "And they had incredibly bad taste of bedroom furniture if you ask me." 

Unimpressed by that Daniel continued. "When he started build ing his complex, Khufu had to clear away many of the old tombs, filling in their shafts or even totally destroying them. His is the largest of all the pyramids in Egypt. The second one, there diagonal from Khufu's, is the pyramid of his son, Khephren. Or called Chephren and Khafre."

Jack snorted and shook his head. "I wonder how they managed to remember their own names. And how are you doing it? Studying this stuff must take a lifetime. No wonder I get headaches in briefings. "

"It's the genius in me." Daniel smirked. "Therefore I can't remember names of hockey teams or their players."

Jack stared at him in mocked shock for a moment. "Well, but that's important stuff. Those pyramid guys are supposed to be all dead. Who cares how many different names they had and when they built these temples... as long as they aren’t snakeheads, I really don't." 

"But this is history, Jack. Meaning of life stuff happened here. This is the origin point from w here the Abydonians were taken. I could say my ancestors came from here, well, sort off. And if Sha'uri and I had a child..." He stopped again, worrying on his lower lip for a moment, haunted by memories Jac k could only imagine. 

Then the boy shook his head and continued his lecture. "Of course the rest of the world doesn't know that. But even despite that, this place has a high meaning in Earth culture. Even though there isn't much left from the ancient Egyptian life here. The pyramids are all empty, plundered during the centuries. And there was a time when people even carried the stones away to build parts of Cairo. Many of Cairo's oldest buildings are built partly from stones of the pyramids. This destruction stopped somewhere in the Nineteenth century. It is believed that, had the pyramids not been vandalized, they would still remain to this day much as they were when they were built."

"So, who was buried in the third one? And what are the small pyramids for?" Jack asked, not sure if he really wanted to know. But there was that glow in Daniel's blue eyes that told him he was going to hear it anyway. 

"The third and smallest pyramid is of Menkaure, Khephren's son. It's the most unusual. First of all, it's not entirely limestone. The upper portions are brick. One theory is that Menkaure died before his pyramid could be completed, and the remaining construction was hastily done to finish it in time for the burial. It is also not along the diagonal line that runs through the Great pyramid and the second one. Instead it is nearly a hundred meters to the south east. They say it's an error..."

"It's no error," a light annoyed voice came from their left.

Jack and Daniel spun around to see a girl not far from them. She was standing there, arms crossed, lips pursed and dark eyes fixed on something in the distance.

"The three large pyramids of Giza are meant to be in an alignment resembling that of three 'belt' stars in the constellation Orion; Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka," she said in a sullen voice.

"I was just getting to that," Daniel muttered, glaring at her.

Jack couldn't suppress a grin. It didn't happen often that someone could catch up with Doctor Jackson’s knowledge of ancient Egyptian history. And that girl was maybe ten or eleven, so she wasn’t even supposed to know things like this.

"You did your homework," Jack observed.

"I like to know what I'm looking at. This place is very old. Did you know there are people who believe the pyramids were built by aliens?" the small person told him.

"Nooo  waaay ," Jack answered in mock amazement.

"Yes. And I think they're right," the girl replied forcefully.

"Really?" Jack eyed her through his sunglasses.

She had black long hair and her skin was slightly darker than his and Daniel's. But she didn't look Arabic to him. He couldn't place her at the moment and decided to ask Daniel later if he recognized her origin.

"I read a lot." She shrugged.

"Ah. I should have known," he answered.

Next to him, Daniel rolled his eyes and tugged at his hand. "Can we go?"

The girl fixed her dark eyes on Daniel. "I know most people think it's ridiculous."

"I didn't say  that ." Daniel shrugged.

"You looked."

"It's what I usually do with my eyes."

"You think you are so smart, right? Just because you know a thing or two about pyramids. Just because most of the world’s Egyptologists and archaeologists don't believe in those theories doesn't mean they are all wrong. It's human arrogance to believe we are the only intelligent life form in the universe," she sniped. 

"Ya think?" Daniel quipped.

Jack stared down at him. That sounded familiar. It wasn't the first time Daniel had channeled him lately. He was really rubbing off on the kid. 

" Stop stealing my lines," he said.

Daniel shrugged again. The girl gave him another glare and stalked away. And Daniel actually stuck his tongue out at her retreating back.

Jack had to bite the insides of his cheeks to hold back a chuckle. He wasn't sure if Daniel was aware of this rather childish act. And Jack sure as hell wouldn't draw his attention to it. Clearing his throat, he said, “She would've listened to one Doctor Jackson's theories, don'tcha think?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel huffed. Then he made sure the girl wasn't near them anymore before he muttered: "I think the Chapaa'ai stood right over there.” 

They crossed the plateau and found more stone steps halfway buried under the sand. 

“Here,” Jack said, shoveling the sand away with his right boot. “This must have been the place.”

“Yes. Can you imagine this, Jack? Even after all these years, I'm amazed it had been here all the time and nobody ever knew.”

“You knew. At least about aliens building the pyramids.” 

“Yeah. But no one believed me. Except for Catherine,” Daniel said.

"That little girl would have believed you."

Daniel made a face and rolled his eyes. “She was just bragging.”

Jack bent down and brushed sand from the steps. He had been on so many worlds, had stood in front of so many gates. Had stepped through their own gate so many times. But he had never even thought about coming to Egypt to see where it had come from. 

Well, historical stuff had never been one of his hobbies. And right now the pool really seemed to be the most important thing in the world. This was vacation, for crying out loud. He deserved a little relaxation time instead of running through the desert and listening to lectures about ancient gods - he did that at work often enough. 

Not that he would tell Daniel that.

And not that Daniel didn't know that anyway. 

Jack wondered if he would have let adult Daniel coax him into going to Egypt. He wasn't sure about that. Sure, he wanted Daniel to be happy, no matter if he was big or little. But following this little guy through the desert and listening to his endless explanations and his prattling about ancient Egypt was somehow different than doing the same thing with big Daniel. At least Jack knew he wouldn't have missed any opportunity to nag and bitch at him about it. 

Now he tried not to roll his eyes every five minutes. This was Danny's trip and Jack wasn’t going to spoil it for him. Well, and aside from the sand, the heat and the rocks, this wasn't too bad anyway. The hotel was great, the weather good and they would be able to relax for some time. No work and no saving the world. 

And as long as Jack didn't think of cabins, lakes and fishing, everything was really... nice.

Jack followed Daniel over the plateau and past the two giant pyramids. They walked through deeper sand and again it reminded O'Neill of being off world. He watched the small figure in front of him. In the endless desert around him, Daniel seemed even more little. 

Jack missed having Daniel with SG-1. He'd gotten used to Baxter who was a nice guy, easy to lead and reliable. But there were still times where he would trade him for his stubborn archaeologist in a heartbeat, no matter how old or what size. 

Things were going too smoothly. Jack never thought he would actually miss the bickering and questioning of his decisions. It wasn't as though Carter or Teal'c didn't express their opinion or never disagreed with him, but it just wasn't the same without Daniel. Jack missed waking up next to him in the tent, oh yes, he even missed the incoherent grunts and huffs Daniel used to give him each morning before he’d get his first cup of coffee. That had never changed after the downsizing. 

Daniel stopped walking and looked around, a frown on his face. “I wanted to show you my parents’ dig site But I'm not exactly sure..." he started. Then he winced and clutched his ear again.

Well, that was it. Jack wasn't going to ignore this any longer. “Let's turn back, Daniel,” he said tersely.

“No, it's just...”

“We'll come back as soon as you feel better. Promise.”

“But the trekking starts tomorrow. And we wanted to...”

“There's no need to do it all today. We have another day in Cairo when we're back from the trek.”

With one  final longing look at the cemeteries, Daniel finally nodded and followed him back to the path leading back to the big pyramid and their car.

**II**

Three hours later they were sitting in the  waiting area at the ER of the Cairo Medical Hospital. Daniel with gritted teeth and watery eyes and Jack with the desperate wish to take the next flight back to the United States. 

As soon as they'd returned to the hotel Jack had ordered his kid to lie down. When Daniel had complied without giving him a fuss, Jack had gotten really worried. By the time Daniel woke up he'd been sweating and running a fever. He didn't even pretend to be fine anymore. His ear hurt and after a bit of prying and prodding he had admitted he also had a headache. Jack had given Daniel a children's Tylenol and then called the desk. The concierge had ordered a cab and given them the address of the hospital. He had also told them to ask for a Doctor named ElAini.

Now they’ d been waiting for what seemed like ages until the Doctor w ould be free to see them. Nurses rushed down the hallway, talking to other patients seated in the waiting area with them. Not far away from Jack was an old man, coughing badly. It was chilly from the air conditioning and it smelled like disinfectant. Typical hospital smell.

Daniel hugged himself, his small figure still shivering.

"You want me to get a blanket?" Jack put a hand on the kid's back, but Daniel jumped from the green plastic stool and walked a few steps away from him. 

"I’m fine."

"Yeah. Right."

"Just... leave me alone, okay?" Turning away from him, Daniel bit his lip.

Jack realized this was new. Something they hadn't been through... not since Daniel had been made a kid. Aside from the concussion after he'd fallen from a chair and that scary meltdown, kid Daniel hadn't been sick, yet. Not even allergy-sick. Fraiser had explained that several of Daniel's allergies might not appear until puberty this time around, or maybe never. Maybe the device that had made Daniel little had given his immune system a few extra scores.

Jack didn't count the Ree c e incident. Because then Daniel hadn't been sick – he'd almost died. And it had been an attack, not sickness.

But now Daniel was sick. What was even worse; they were at a hospital, not at the SGC where good old Janet would take care of him. So this was new on a couple of levels. 

Daniel didn't want to show how lousy he felt. Jack wanted to hold him. He wanted Daniel to accept his need of comfort. People would see him getting cuddled and hugged. So what? This was a foreign country, Daniel was sick and Jack was there to take care of him.

Daniel was little.

Jack couldn't just let him suffer there on his own.

Except he had to.

They weren't doing the cuddle thing in public. Period. At least not on Jack’s terms. 

If Daniel wanted to be held or anything outside their home, or maybe the SGC, he had to take the first step. No way was Jack just going to pick him up for hugs or cuddling. It was a rule Daniel had made. One of the boundaries Daniel had set and Jack had promised to accept that boundary, no matter what. The only time Daniel had been sitting on his lap in public was at the vet. And that had been probably just to sugarcoat Jack into let him keep the raccoon. 

It had been just recently that the kid started to relax in that matter when Sam and Teal'c were around. But he was doing it on his own terms only. Hugging and snuggling anywhere outside or in front of other people was still a big deal. 

Well, that didn't mean Jack couldn't do something, right? 

He got up and stopped one of the nurses. "Excuse me," he started, but the woman just looked blankly at him and smiled.

"Great," Jack said and then cleared his throat before he tried again, "Ahalan. Indek... blanket?" He pointed at Daniel who slumped back onto the chair, his eyes closed, arms still around his body. 

"Ibn... cold?" the nurse asked, making some shivering motions.

"Naam."

The nurse nodded and  hurried into a storage room. A moment later she returned, carrying a blanket. 

"Shukran," he said, thanking her.

She gave him another smile and a nod and hurried away.

Jack walked over to Daniel and put the brown blanket around his shivering shoulders. 

"I don't need..." the munchkin started, teeth clattering. There were two red spots on his cheeks now and his eyes were glassy.

"Humor me," Jack said, tucking the blanket tightly around Daniel before sitting down next to him again. Jack put a tentative hand on the small back and started rubbing in circles. The kid tensed, but didn't back off.

"How long do we have to wait?" he hissed.

"A little while."

"You said that  ten minutes ago."

"I know."

"It's a pediatrician," Daniel said suddenly, horror in his voice.

"What?"

"The doc. I bet he's a kid doctor," Daniel sniped.

"Oh, yeah, well. You'll live."

Daniel sighed.

After a few more minutes, a good looking young doctor with the typical dark hair and eyes of an Arabian, hurried around the corner. He wore a white doctor's gown and jeans underneath. When he spotted Daniel, a bright smile flashed over his face, showing two rows of perfect white teeth. 

"I am Doctor ElAini. You must be Danny," he greeted them cheerfully.

"Daniel," Daniel said, barely looking up.

"Marhaba salam alekom. That means 'hello' in Arabic," the doc said, patting Daniel's head.

Oh joy. He  _was_ a pediatrician. Jack cleared his throat, while the kid rolled his eyes in annoyance. The doctor turned to him and reached out to shake Jack’s hand. "You must be Danny's dad."

"His name is Daniel. I'm his guardian," Jack said tensed as they shook hands.

ElAini looked on this chart. "You are Mr. O'Neill? Please follow me." 

They were led into an examination room. A nurse came towards them, waving a fever thermometer at Daniel. "Open your mouth, shoeya sabi," she told him gently.

The colonel winced at the "little boy."

"I can do that myself," Daniel said and reached for the thermometer.

"Ah, ah, ah, no no. You just open your mouth.” She waited patiently until Daniel complied, then stuck the thermometer in. “Now close your mouth.” 

Jack stood next to him feeling awkward. He realized how different things were at home. Daniel was struggling with being a child there, too. But most people who were interacting with him on a daily basis knew he didn't fancy to be treated like a kid. 

Daniel didn't need to go through school, daycare or anything like that. He was at home or at the mountain. Sure, they went shopping and out for dinner. And it wasn't as if they never did things together outside. But people left them alone most of the time. Nobody came along and just patted his head or pinched his cheek because he was so cute. Sometimes people smiled down at him or talked to him the way adults did to kids. But they always managed to avoid situations like that with Daniel's dignity left intact. 

The kid had changed again somewhat over the last weeks. The extreme loops between his adult part and the kid side had calmed down some. If it was due to their meetings with Svenson or his encounter with Reese and Oma Desala, Jack couldn't tell. Daniel still had his sullen or cranky moments. He still changed from serious and mature into cheerful and giddy or whiny and bratty. But the mood switches weren't that abrupt anymore. The little guy had become more predictable and less hyper. 

At least it had been like that at home. 

But this wasn't home. And it wasn't the infirmary or familiar territory. This was... well, it was the real world. And to everybody here Daniel was eight and looked like the cutest little guy. He was small for his age and his glasses were giving him the extra little touch of shyness. Adults were drawn to him. And here in Egypt tow headed kids with bright blue eyes were something special.

The thermometer beeped and the nurse pulled it out. "103 degrees," she said. Well, that wasn't a surprise. The kid seemed sending out waves of heat just by his looks.

"It says he has pain in his ear," ElAini said, looking into Daniel's chart.

"Left ear," Daniel answered.

"Good. Will you please sit down here and take off your shirt for me so I can listen to your heart and lungs? It won't hurt a bit. I promise."

ElAini ruffled through Daniel's hair and smiled reassuringly. Daniel looked like he wanted to zat him. Jack  wanted to take the blanket from hi m, but Daniel quickly brushed it off and tossed it on the examination table .

Jack took a step back while the kid pulled off the blue t-shirt he was wearing. 

ElAini warmed the stethoscope in his hand for a moment before he started aus culta ting Daniel's chest and back, telling him when to breathe in and out. After they were through this he told Daniel to get dressed again. 

Then he took a lamp and explained, "I am going to look into your eyes and ears now. That might sting a little in the bad ear. If it hurts too much, don't be afraid to tell me. But you are a brave boy. We will be finished in no time, okay?"

Daniel gritted his teeth and nodded. He obviously chose to go through this as fast and as quietly as possible. But the line between his eyes was deep and his jaw was set tight. Right now he looked more like the man than the boy. Or maybe it was only Jack who could see the old Daniel so  clearly in this child. 

After shining the lamp in both of Daniel's eyes the doctor looked in his ears and scribbled something on the chart.

"Can you open your mouth for me, Danny? And can you say 'Aaahh'? You'll get a nice little surprise later. Do you like  y o-yo s ?"

"No," Daniel ground out.

"What about cars?"

Daniel opened his mouth and let out a strangled, "Aaah."

ElAini looked at his throat and pushed his tongue down with a depressor. "It is a bacterial ear infection. Throat is free," he said, then added: "Very good, little sadiq. Remind me to give you a  y o-yo later."

"Bite me," Daniel muttered under his breath.

“Daniel,” Jack warned despite feeling sorry for yhe tyke. 

“You don't like doctors, do you? But you want to get better so you can have lots of fun on your vacation here. So we have to do this properly," ElAini told him patiently.

When Daniel didn't reply to that, the doctor turned to O'Neill. "Since when does he have a fever?"

Jack was smart enough not to answer that for Daniel. He didn't want to be the target of his anger once they were out of here. 

"It started today," Daniel said.

ElAini looked at Jack who gave a short nod of confirmation.

"The ear looks like it has been infected for some time. Make sure you see your own doctor when you get home. If the infection has healed out and there are still fluids in his ear, surgery might be necessary." 

"Surgery?" Jack squeaked. What the..?

"It is called a myringotomy. It is necessary when fluids from an ear infection stay in the ear for a longer time. The surgeon will make a small opening in the ear drum. Then a tube is placed in the opening. The tube works to relieve pressure in the clogged ear. Fluid cannot build up in the ear if the tube is venting it with fresh air. After a few months, the tubes will fall out on their own. In rare cases, a child may need to have a myringotomy more than once," ElAini explained. Then he shook his head. "You have waited too long. You should have brought him yesterday. There is already a lot of sanies in the infected ear."

At this, Daniel ducked his head and stared at his feet. 

Jack felt a sudden pang of anger. For how long exactly was Daniel hiding the pain from him? And even more important... Why hadn't he noticed, something was up? 

“We thought he had issues because of the changing pressure on the plane. We just arrived yesterday,” Jack said, dumbfounded.

“Hmm, I think it must have bothered him before yesterday. But the flight might just have made it worse. Well, you got lucky. I think we'll be able to avoid surgery.” ElAini said. 

Jack tried to remember if there had been signs of Daniel not feeling good the past last days at home. Had he been quieter than usually? There had been lots of work for them to do before they could go on this trip. And a mission had gotten in the way a couple days before they had started packing. But he had always been an expert in Daniel reading... why hadn't he realized something was wrong with the Wretch? 

ElAini said something in Arabic to the nurse. She nodded and left the room. Jack wasn't sure what he said. His Arabic wasn't that good. But he assumed ElAini had sent her for some medications.

The doctor scribbled some more on the chart and said, "I will give him antibiotics and you have to give him Tylenol if the fever gets any higher. We have to clean the ear out. Then I will stick a cotton batting with antiseptic ointment into the ear. You have to come back tomorrow to change it. And I want to see Daniel in five days for a final examination."

Jack nodded. He was still trying to get his head around the fact that Daniel might have been sick for days and he hadn't noticed. How could he not have seen the kid was in pain? Jack should have known. Should have sensed it. 

A sick adult Daniel had always been in denial of being sick until someone called him on it and shoved a thermometer into his mouth to prove it. Daniel had never wanted to be dependent on anybody. He was the first one to give comfort to others and to be there for his friends. But letting others, especially Jack, taking care of him seemed to be almost impossible to bear. Over the years things had changed between them and they had both opened up to each other more than they ever could with anyone else. But when Doctor Jackson got sick, it was back to "leave me alone" again, until Jack had managed to break his resistance up to a point. 

Bottom line was; a sick Daniel had never been a happy camper. He hated being sick. The sick little Daniel looking so exhausted, but grim and untouchable, apparently hated it even more. And again he had tried to go through it all alone. 

Oh, Jack knew pretty well there was another reason why Daniel hadn't said anything. 

He told himself to stay calm about it. Being angry wouldn't change things. 

ElAini told Daniel to come with him so he could clean his ear and put the ointment in. Daniel hopped from the examination table and then his eyes searched Jack's for the first time since they had entered the room. They exchanged a look. The blue eyes  were troubled. 

He took a deep breath and addressed ElAini. "Listen, can you give us a minute here?"

ElAini nodded. “Of course. I will be next door to the left in examination room eight."

Once they were alone Jack looked at Daniel who gazed down at his feet again, arms tightly around himself. 

"That went well," Jack said to no one in particular. 

"I guess that's another score on Daniel's 'screw up' list, huh?” Daniel said in a very small voice. 

"You didn't want to stay home, huh?" 

He nodded. 

"I thought something like that."

Daniel sniffed and rubbed his eyes after he had shoved his glasses on top of his head. Jack walked over, took them from him and tucked them into his shirt pocket. "Let's sit down for a minute."

"It's horrible. I never thought anything could hurt more than being tortured with a hand ribbon device," Daniel sniffed.

"It does?"

"No, maybe not, but..." Daniel blinked away a tear or two, then started talking fast. "I don't want him to clean my ear. I know, I know, it has to be done... but it already hurts so much. I want to go home... I don't want them to pat my head and talk nonsense to me. And I don't want 'little surprises' because I opened my mouth. I don't want to feel so... little."

O'Neill reached for him, but Daniel took a step back. "Don't. Don't hug me. I’m going to lose it, if you do." 

"Then what can I do?" he asked, feeling helpless as he tried to respect Daniel's wish.

"Just get me out of here as fast as possible."

With that, Daniel turned and left. Jack followed him and they walked down a crowded corridor, the overwhelming smell of sickness and antiseptics almost unbearable. 

Jack hated hospitals. And he knew, Daniel hated them, too. Too many memories. For Jack this was too similar to the Emergency Room at the Colorado Springs County... and for both of them this resembled countless stays at the infirmary. 

They entered examination room 8 and when Daniel sat down in the big chair, the nurse returned and handed the doctor a tray with several items on it. When she left the room again, she gave Daniel a look of pity.

"He has to stay out of the sun until the fever is down for a day. And no swimming until the infection is properly healed," ElAini told Jack. “I'm sorry if you had plans to go to the coast. But there are lots of other things you can do in Cairo.”

"That won't be a problem. We're into museums, big time,” Jack said. 

At least it lured a snort out of Daniel. 

Daniel didn't utter one sound when ElAini cleaned his ear with a little suction apparatus. But there was a single tear running down his face and he bit his lower lip so hard, Jack thought  he would draw blood. He shuddered at the nasty sucking noise and the gurgling of the instrument. 

"You are really brave, Daniel," Doctor ElAini praised and reached out to pat the blond hair again.

And that was it.

Daniel leaped out of the chair, knocked the doctor's arm away, and fled. ElAini stared after him, shocked and confused.

“He doesn't like to be touched,” Jack said, wincing.

“I... see.”

“Issues.” Jack grabbed the medications that were lying on the table next to the chair and left the examination room. He found Daniel in a corner next to a water cooler. He leaned against the wall, his eyes closed, the red spots back on his pale face.

Jack touched his arm. "Hey."

"I want to get out of here," Daniel mumbled.

"Can I have the  y o-yo they promised you? Okay, just kidding."

Daniel glared at him, but the shadow of a smile appeared on his face. Jack put a hand on his back and they left the hospital. When they reached the parking lot, it was dark outside. Jack took a deep breath of Egyptian air; a mixture of exhaust, dry heat and a lot of different smells he couldn't classify right now. Food and spices, flowers and sand. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was a mixture totally different from home. 

Several cabs waited at the taxi rank on the other end of the lot and a moment later they were on their way to the hotel. And finally Daniel turned to Jack and leaned against him. O'Neill wasn't sure who was more relieved about that. Very carefully he put an arm around his kid. Daniel let out a sigh and squeezed his eyes shut, his hand searching for Jack's and holding onto it for dear life. Five minutes later, Daniel's head was nestled at his shoulder and he had fallen into an exhausted sleep. 

Later, Jack carried a sleeping child into the lobby of their hotel. The man at the desk handed him his key with a worried look on his face. “My colleague told me there was a sick child today. Is that him?”

“Yeah. He should be okay in a couple of days,” Jack answered absently and took the keys.

“I hope so. There was someone here for you this afternoon, sir. But he left no name or number. He just said he would try again.”

Jack frowned. "Who?"

"A man. He asked for you. When he was told that you weren't in your room, he just left."

"That's a little odd," Jack mumbled. "Any idea what he looked like?"

"I cannot tell you, sir. I just came in shortly after he left and my colleague told me. He has already gone home. You may ask him in the morning," the man said apologetically.

“ Thanks... and thanks to your colleague for giving me the name of the d octor,” Jack said. He made a mental note to give that man a generous tip tomorrow. 

“I hope your child will be better soon,” the man in the black suit said with a polite smile.

O'Neill headed to the elevators. Daniel stirred when they reached the seventh floor. He yawned and then cringed. “Ow, it still hurts.”

“It will for a while until the pain meds work. Should be better soon,” Jack soothed him.

"I can walk."

"I know," Jack said, not letting him down. There was no one here who might see them so Daniel seemed to relax. Either that, or he was just too tired to care. When they had reached his room he put the kid down on the bed and helped him to get out of his shoes and jeans. 

A moment later Daniel was tucked under the covers while Jack read the instructions for the antibiotics.

He was very familiar with pain meds and the antibiotics, adult Daniel used to take when he'd been suffering from his sinus infections. But childrens ’ antibiotics were new to him and so he had to go through the instructions. When Charlie had been sick, Sara had done most of the nursing stuff. 

"You weren't sick like this the whole year since..." Jack pointed out.

"Yes. And now that I go on vacation it has to happen. How ironic is this," Daniel groaned, shivering from the fever.

Jack put the package insert aside. “You need to eat something,” he said, knowing the answer to that before he heard it. 

Daniel groaned.

“You know how it works. Antibiotics.“

“I'll drink some water,” mumbled the patient.

But Jack would have none of that. “Your eight year old stomach won't be happy if you’re taking the pills on an almost empty stomach. Your thirty something stomach didn't like that either. And the last thing I want is you getting sick on top of the ear infection. Besides, your ear won't be happy if you're going to puke your guts out.”

“All right, all right. Give me something. I don't care what,” Daniel sighed. 

“I'm gonna call room service. How about some ice cream?” Jack offered.

Daniel shrugged and crawled as far under the covers as possible.

O'Neill made the call for chocolate ice cream and then sat down on the edge of the bed. "So. Talking time. Since when does your ear hurt?" he asked quietly.

The little guy turned away from him and buried his face into the pillow.

Jack rubbed his back and when Daniel didn't respond, he decided to let the matter drop. For now, at least. “It's okay. We can talk about it tomorrow. But you know, we have to talk about it. It's one of those things."

A moment later the ice cream was delivered. Jack put the tray on Daniel's nightstand and sat down again. Patting his back, Jack gently pushed, “Come on. The sooner you eat this, the sooner you can take your meds and go to sleep."

Sniffing, the kid finally sat up and took the ice cream bowl from Jack, still avoiding his eyes. “It started the night before we were supposed to leave. It wasn't bad. Just a twinge here and there. I took Tylenol the next morning. I took three chewable tablets yesterday and three today. I'm allowed to take four a day. It kept the fever down and it didn't hurt much. I thought it would pass.”

"I know you didn't want to stay home and I understand. Doesn't make it right though."

"I guess not."

"Can you imagine how I felt when I realized you've been sick and I didn't notice?" Jack didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to.

Daniel seemed to shrink with every word he said. There was moisture in his eyes and as much as Jack hated to see him suffer even more on top of his hurting ear, he had to make his point here.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Daniel whispered.

“Stuff like this happens over and over again. We really need to work on you telling me what's up.” 

“I know.” 

With a sigh Jack took the ice cream bowl out of Daniel's hands and placed it back on the nightstand. "C'mere." He pulled his miserable Wretch into a hug and felt Daniel's hot face press against his shirt. "Don't do this to me, Daniel," Jack said softly. "Why is this so hard for you? I'm here, I care. It's always been like this. And you’re always fighting it. Why?"

"Dunno. Sorry."

"Okay, okay, I know." 

They had to talk about this to Svenson again. They had tried to sort this particular issue out before, but Daniel didn't react too well to it. He’d said, it was just the way he was, always had been. He didn't like to bother others with his problems and needs. And there was nothing to change about it. He said that often lately. That he didn't want to be changed into somebody else. Jack had tried to talk about that in one of their meetings with the doc. But  ever  since Daniel had heard about he r daycare  suggestion , he had taken a step back and didn't seem to cooperate as much as he used to in the beginning. 

Sometimes Jack wished he could just take the kid and go somewhere, where they didn't have to function. Some place Daniel could just be what he was without having to "fit" in. Sure, they were supporting him at home as much as possible. They were shielding him from the "real world." But even at the mountain Daniel was reminded of what he had been all the time. Maybe Jack really should retire and go to Minnesota with him. 

Or maybe they should go somewhere else. Daniel still refused to go to the cabin. Which, of course, spoke volumes about how he was dealing with the whole mess. 

Not that leaving was really an option. But maybe going somewhere into the woods would have been a much better idea than coming to Egypt. A big long time out for both of them. Where they could just relax, do guy things, fish... without people pat ting his head and telling him how cute he was. And without too much opportunity for the Wretch to get into trouble.

Then again, this was probably wishful thinking. They couldn't escape this no matter how far they’d run. And wasn't Jack the one who kept telling Daniel running was no option? And the kid had finally decided to go forward and adapt to what he was now – up to a point. Because currently he had no choice. 

To Jack this little Daniel got more and more important. More and more real. 

The hard thing was that he didn't stop missing his lover. 

Which was totally nuts. Daniel was Daniel. And then again he seemed to be split in two different people. There was the genius kid making Jack's life both joyful and miserable on a regular basis. And there was the guy who had shared Jack's bed and also made his life joyful and miserable... well... some things never changed. To some degree Little Daniel was still Big Daniel, which was the whole reason why everything was so mixed up between them.

And yet, the man was gone. And Jack missed the man. Physically. It was a dull ache deep in his gut when he was lying in bed sometimes, the favorite creamy sweater tucked around him. He couldn't forget. He couldn't stop using his memories as a jerking off fantasy. And when he did that, he longed for him. Jack still wanted him back.

But he didn't want to trade him for the Wretch.

He wanted them both.

And both he could not have.

It was paradox. Fucked. 

After a moment, Daniel pulled back and Jack handed him the bowl with the half melted chocolate ice cream. Slowly Daniel started eat ing and pull ing a face each time he had to swallow.

“That bad, hm?” Jack said sympathetically.

“Yuck,” Daniel mumbled.

O'Neill watched him eat and they fell silent for a moment. When the bowl was almost empty he w e nt to get a glass of water and the meds. Daniel swallowed the antibiotics and a pain pill without complaining. Then he started to get up.

“Where do you think you're going?” Jack asked, raising his eyebrows.

“To bed,” he answered meekly.

“You are in bed right now. And that's where you stay.”

“But this is your bed. I can stay in my own room,” Daniel protested lamely and let himself sink back into Jack's bed again nevertheless. O'Neill pulled the covers back around him. “It's a king size bed.”

Daniel blushed again. “I know. But…”

“Daniel, it's not your fault you're sick.” 

“But I didn't tell you.”

“Yeah, well, there's that. But right now I just want you to rest and get better. And I want you to stay here where I can keep an eye on you and feel your head every five minutes, okay?” Jack said in a gentle but firm voice. 

“'kay,” Daniel yawned and gave him a little smile.

A moment later he was asleep.

Jack waited until he was sure the kid wouldn't wake up any time soon before he started to check both their rooms for nasty surprises like hidden cameras or wiretaps. 

Somebody  had been looking for them. Had asked for them. That this somebody had left again when Jack wasn't at the hotel didn't mean he might not have come back later through a back door. For a skilled guy, getting into their rooms without breaking the door wasn't a problem either. 

Once he had checked both rooms without finding anything Jack changed into sweatpants and a shirt before he slipped into bed next to Daniel and watched him sleep. He tried to make the right decision. He was torn between the wish to make this trip a great time for Danny, despite of his ear infection, and making sure he would stay safe and sound.

If Jack made the phone call, they might be ordered home ASAP. And Daniel would be mad at him forever. If he ignored the mysterious visitor and it turned out to be a bad guy, they might get into serious trouble.

Jack rubbed his face with both hands. Tough choices.

Why couldn't they do anything easy? Who the hell would probably want something from him here in Cairo, if not the NID?

*******

Daniel woke with a dull pain in his left ear and a light headache. But the terrible sting was gone. Last night it had felt like someo ne kept ramming  something up his ear. He yawned very carefully, but the pain didn't get worse. Still feeling drowsy, he reached for his glasses on the nightstand and looked at the open balcony door. The blinding light from outside stung his eyes, but after a moment of adjusting he could see the blue sky and Jack who was sitting in one of the white comfortable chairs, reading something. 

A tray sat on the table opposite the bed. Daniel saw cornflakes and a can of milk, a glass of orange juice and two slices of toast, but no coffee.

He groaned. Antibiotics meant no coffee. Not even coffee with lots of cream. Muttering under his breath, he scrambled out of bed and picked up the juice. It was delicious, though, and Daniel drank it all. Knowing Jack wouldn't let him get away without breakfast he took a slice of toast, but ignored the cornflakes and the butter. 

Jack was reading the New York Times when Daniel stepped outside.

“Hey. Feeling any better?” His friend greeted him with a smile.

“Um, kind of. Still hurts, though.”

“You look better,” Jack said and put his newspaper down.

“I would feel much better if I could have just one...”

“No coffee.”

“I thought you'd say something like that.” Daniel slouched in the second chair and nibbled on his toast.

“So,” Jack said after a moment. “Looks like we're stuck in Cairo for a while. You have to stay out of the sun until the fever is down. You have to see the doctor again today and in five days. Bottom line; we can't do the trekking. But we're going to make the best of it. Visit the bazaar and trudge around the city. I was thinking museums and stuff.” Jack tried to sound up beat and encouraging, but Daniel wasn't comforted by that.

“But it's already getting better. I'll take my meds and by tomorrow it won't even hurt anymore. There's no need to miss the trekking tour,” he tried. “There's no need to see the doctor again. I'm going to be fine.”

“I already booked the rooms for this week.”

“Why are you doing this over my head?” 

“Because it's the right thing to do and you know it. I had to do it before ten. Hotel regulations.”

“Why didn't you wake me!”

“You're sick. It's not your fault, but I won't risk this getting worse. And you don't want to end up having surgery either.”

Daniel stared at his hand still holding the toast. “No,” he muttered. Then, seeing as his fate was sealed, he said, “But we can do day trips. I like the idea of going to the bazaar and the museums. And I'd like to show your some of the mosques. I’ll stay out of the sun and promise to tell you when I need to rest or when my ear hurts.”

“Half day trips,” Jack said. “Nothing fancy.”

“Um... okay.”

“And we'll stay at the hotel today and tomorrow. I want the fever down for at least a day before I take you anywhere.”

“It's down.”

“Have you checked?”

“Uh, no, but my head doesn't feel warm. I know what having a fever feels like,” Daniel objected, gloomy.

“Let's stay on the safe side here. Get the thermometer.”

With a sigh, Daniel walked back into the room and returned, the thermometer already in his mouth. When the time was up, he took it out and let out a triumphant: “HA! I knew it. No fever.”

"How much?"

"It is not a fever."

“Daniel..."

"100.5. It's not really a fever."

"it's not really normal temperature either."

"But..."

"I want it down to normal for at least a day before we take any trips," Jack decided, his tone of voice indicating he wouldn't allow any back talk in this matter.

Daniel needed his full willpower not to stomp inside. He took a deep breath and fought for calmness. "Fine," he snapped after a moment. But he didn't yell and he didn't run. 

"Good."

The silence between them wasn't comfortable and after a moment, Jack said, "Let's see how it is tonight. If it stays down like this and is gone tomorrow, we can take a walk in the afternoon. That's all I can give you right now.”

“Deal. And if the fever doesn't come back and my ear doesn't hurt anymore we can go back to Giza, right? I still want to show you my parents’ dig site and visit the pyramids,” Daniel said, his mood rising a little.

“We'll see,” Jack said as he gazed out over the balcony again.

"If the doc clears me next week, we'll still have four days left. We could visit the oasis then. Or take a long trip on the Nile, maybe," Daniel mused.

There was an uncertain expression on the man's face for a moment and Daniel wondered, what was bothering Jack aside from the ear infection. "Jack?"

Jack blinked and shook his head. "Huh?"

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You look worried. I'm all right, really. I'm not going to tell you I'm fine when I'm not. I promise. I know that might not be worth much right now, but..." Daniel trailed off, searching for words. 

Jack looked a little confused, but then he seemed to get what Daniel was talking about. "No. No, it's not that," he assured him. "Okay. We'll try to do as much as we can as soon as you're okay again. Let's make the best out of it." 

"I know a lot of places we can visit in Cairo. I'm your guide. And believe it or not, you're going to like it here," Daniel said, smiling.

“So, not that bad?”

“Yeah... not so bad.” Daniel felt better.

“Sweet. Another crisis handled. Sometimes saving the world is easier than keeping you happy.” 

“Very funny, Jack. Can I have the paper?”

Jack handed him the part of the newspaper he had already read and settled back with the sport section, while Daniel was going through the political part and the gossip  sections .

Later that day, when Daniel's fever stayed down, they took a short exploring tour of the hotel complex. The hotel had three pools, one inside and two on the outside. There were already lots of people lounging in the sun. Kids played in the water and on a little playground nearby. There were several bars around the pool areas and the smell of food lingered everywhere. Daniel saw men and women walk around or sit at the bars with fancy cocktails of all colors. Most of the tourists were American,  English or European people as far as Daniel could tell. He picked up French and German here and there. There was a large tennis court and another cocktail bar inside the hotel. 

"Hey, a Billiard Club," Jack pointed out.

"Do you think we could play there? I haven't played pool since we were kicked out  of O'Malley's," Daniel said.

"Sure... if kids are allowed. There's a sauna and a Health Club with whirlpool and a gym," Jack said, reading the plan on a wall near the elevators. 

“It has three restaurants,” Daniel said. “Chinese, Arabian and the buffet restaurant. I have never been in a hotel like this when we lived here. The first time I stayed at a big hotel was when we went to New York. It was like a cultural shock to me. All that luxury, so much food... we often lived amongst the workers on the digs in tents. I was never hungry or felt like we were poor. I just didn't know anything else. And I liked being on the dig site better than in our house here in Cairo.”

“You had a house?”

“Yeah. My parents did, anyway. For the months when we weren't on the dig site. But I always preferred the tent. I felt free out there in the desert.”

“Must have been pretty tough later,” Jack mused. “School, all the strange people, big city...”

“Yes. I never had many friends my age when we lived here. There were kids, but I mostly was with my parents or Ahmet, who was working very close with them. I had a nanny, too. My parents taught me a lot about their work.They let me have my own brush and I got to clean some of the artifacts. Things like that. In the evenings mom taught me how to read and write if I wasn't too tired.”

“Were you never just... I don't know. Running around, playing ball or catch?“ Jack asked.

“Sure I did. I had one friend and we hung out together a lot. His name was Ali. He was Ahmet's son and he was two years older. But I enjoyed helping my dad and mom with their work. I learned a lot. I always liked to learn...” Daniel's voice trailed off.

“New York must have been like going off world for you.”

“I loved it. It was new, it was big, exciting. So much to see... as long as I was there with my parents, I was totally in awe. I had nothing to worry about. I thought we would go back to Egypt after the exhibition, so I didn't miss it much in the beginning. Maybe I was too fascinated by everything there to realize I had left home... later... things changed a lot obviously.”

Daniel suddenly realized he had never talked that much about his childhood before. To anyone. Being in Cairo made him lower his shields. He didn't know why exactly it was so difficult for him to share those memories with anyone. Maybe it was because he treasured them so much. They were his and his alone. His early years in Egypt had been like an oasis of good in midst of the disaster the rest of his so called childhood had turned into. The people in NY had been different and Daniel didn't think anyo ne would understood how precious those years with his parents in Egypt had been to him. 

When he had become an adult, he was so used to keeping the memories inside that he just never felt like talking about it. 

Now that he was here, things seemed to be more present again. The past seemed so close suddenly. He had had this feeling before a few times since his transformation. The past was like a monster waiting 'round the next corner. And he feared that, if he started talking about the good memories to Jack, the bad ones would come, too. Rising like bubbles to the surface of a deep sea... he already had to deal with nightmares about it since he was a kid again. He could not go back there. Not to the time after his parents had died. 

"You okay, Danny?" Jack got him out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine," he responded on auto pilot.

"We have to leave for your doctor's appointment."

He pulled a face. He had forgotten all about that. Or more likely he had pretended to forget.

When they reached the desk to leave their room keys there, Jack approached one of the clerks about a man that had asked for them the night before. 

Daniel frowned. Somebody had been here to see them? The young man, who had talked to that stranger, described him as a native Egyptian in simple robes and a red wool hat. He was sorry, but couldn't tell them more. Not even after Jack had bribed him with a few dollars. He shook his head, smiled politely and walked over to the next guest who was complaining loudly about not getting warm water in his shower.

This morning they took their own rental car, a blue Ford Mondeo, for the trip to the hospital. After Daniel had climbed into the backseat and fastened his belt, he asked Jack about what had happened back in the lobby.

Jack steered the car out of the hotel park house as he told Daniel what he knew. 

He got a queasy feeling in his stomach. "NID?"

"I considered that. But now I don't think so. If the NID wanted their grubby hands on you they wouldn't ask first." Jack's voice sounded a little too reassuring.

“ Unless they only asked to make sure we weren’t in...”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, but no one was in our rooms yesterday. I checked.”

"But wouldn’t it be just like them to wait until we are away from the SGC to start something? Maybe Simmons is here and wants to 'talk' to us. He could have sent a courier to bring us a message or arrange a meeting," Daniel said worried.

For a while Jack didn't answer. The streets of Cairo were stuffed with traffic. Car horns and brakes screamed. In midst of all, those on foot ran into the streets without looking, and bikes kept getting in their way. Jack carefully steered the car through all this. Daniel noticed that his friend stared into his back mirror more than once.

To see if they were followed?

"I called Hammond last night. They are checking if anyone from the NID has l eft the country lately," Jack admitted finally.

Daniel sighed. "If it turns out the NID is behind this we have to go home."

"We don't know that yet."

"Isn't that just great. First I get sick, now the NID wants my ass. And I bet there will be a Goa'uld  waiting  around the next corner to torture me or something," Daniel sniped.

"Ah yes. And don't forget Doctor 'You-are-such-a-brave-little-boy' ElAini," Jack snorted.

"Oh, joy." Daniel rolled his eyes. "Maybe he is the Goa'uld and the torture has already begun."


	2. Egypt II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part II of Egypt... In which J and D go to a museum, have a fancy dinner and a boat trip...

**III**

They made it to the hospital without being followed, as much as O'Neill coul d tell in the chaos on the streets. 

This time things went much better.

They didn't have to wait long and Daniel got his ear cleaned out from another doctor who didn't pat his head or tell him how brave he was. The man seemed to be in a hurry, barely spoke a word during the treatment. All he said was that the ear looked good and that Jack could pull the cotton batting out tomorrow. 

"Make sure he takes the antibiotics for the full five days and if the ear still hurts in two days, you have to come back," the doctor finished and then he was out of the examination room in a rush.

Daniel hopped down from the chair, the color slowly returning into his cheeks. It must have been painful again, but the kid didn't say anything and Jack didn't ask. He couldn't stop himself from squeezing Daniel's shoulder before they left the room, though.

Once they had made their way back through the insane traffic to the hotel, Daniel looked worn out. 

When they reached Jack's room, the cleaning staff had been there. Jack automatically gave the room a quick check over again. He would do the same later with Daniel's. He had asked at the desk if their strange visitor had been back, but got a negative response. 

Daniel sat on the bed and yawned. "I'm tired," he admitted grumpily. 

"Why don't you lie down for a while. You could watch some TV or read something," Jack suggested. He put a cool hand on his forehead to check his temperature. “Feels good. Not warm.”

"I want to go to my room for some time," he told Jack.

"You can stay here."

"Why do I have my own room if I don't stay in it? I'm okay. Just tired. I'll sleep a little and then come over again."

The separate rooms had been something Daniel insisted on. They had discussions about this, even with Svenson. Jack didn't want him to stay in another room. He wanted at least a connecting door between them. But the hotel didn't offer rooms like that and they couldn't afford a suite. 

Jack sat down on the bed. "Come here for a minute," he told Daniel and patted the white covers next to him. There were oriental patterns all over it. Little camels and hieroglyphs.

He could see how Daniel barely kept himself from rolling his eyes, when he walked over and sat down next to him. 

"You know how I feel about letting you have your own room," the colonel began. "And now that we're stuck here in Cairo for the whole time, I'd rather you move in with me."

"But you booked both rooms for the whole time, didn't you?” Daniel asked confused. 

"Yes. I did. Against better judgment," Jack started. 

"Aaaand....?"

"You tell me."

"Oh. I'm not leaving the hotel on my own. I keep my phone on all the time. I won't let anyone in. And I don't leave my room after bed time, unless I want to come over to you," Daniel said without any sign of sarcasm in his voice. After a short pause he sighed. "And if I want to go anywhere inside the hotel I'll ask you first. And... if you say no... No means no and isn't negotiable."

Svenson and Daniel had persuaded Jack against his gut feeling, that this was important for Daniel, to feel independent and stuff like that. After the incident with Nashi, Jack had made it very clear he wouldn't take any crap from the Wretch whatsoever. If Daniel acted up and tried to pull stunts like wandering off or leaving the hotel without him, the room was canceled. Period. 

Now things had changed again. And while he didn't want to force Daniel to give up his own room right away, Jack felt he had to minimize the risks as much as he could. 

"You know I hate doing this to you, Daniel. I really do. But I'm afraid I can't let you run around the hotel alone at all," he said.

"But those were the rules we agreed on."

"I know and I'm sorry. But there's a guy out there who is looking for us for what reason ever. Things are a little sketchy here and I don't want any nasty surprises."

Jack saw him take a deep breath. Then another one. But that was about it. There was no sneering, no yelling, not even a dirty look. Finally, the kid nodded his agreement.

"You think you can do that? Because we can spare us lots of trouble if you have doubts about it. This room is big enough for two," O'Neill said a little more sharply than he intended to. He wasn't used to such easy acceptance on Daniel's part about rules like this.

Daniel straightened up his shoulders and looked him into the eyes. "I can do it."

"O-kay. Then we have a deal here, I guess."

The kid got up and out of the blue threw his arms around Jack's neck and hugged him quickly. "Thanks."

Well, now Jack was dumbfounded. "What for?"

"For not just canceling the room. I know you're worried. I appreciate that you still let me stay on my own," Daniel said almost a bit shyly. "And that we're still going to do things."

Who was this stranger and what had he done with his Wretch?

Jack grinned. "I'm gon na get a  couple of  new gray hairs over this. Now let me come over with you and at least check it out."

*******

Daniel watched Jack doing his protective thing until he was satisfied there were no suspicious things hidden in his room. 

"If you  get any funny phone calls..."

"I  won’t open the door and I’ll call you if someone’s trying to get in here. I’ll come over if anything seems wrong. Or if King Kong shows up at my window," Daniel quipped without really wanting to. He knew this was serious. Things like that just always seemed to slip him.

Jack gave him the hairy eyeball, but then answered in the same tone: "If King Kong shows up, don't forget to take a picture. T would be delighted."

"I'll try to remember that," Daniel snorted as he accompanied Jack to the door.

"Get some sleep, munchkin."

"I wish you would stop calling me that."

"I kn ow." Jack smirked 

Daniel felt his hair being ruffled and wondered - not for the first time - why he never minded Jack doing it while he hated it when others dared to try. 

A moment later he was alone  and locked the door . 

He had unpacked his things and spent their first night here, but other than that he had been at Jack's most of the time. His single bed had the same covers as Jack's and the interior was the same, too. Red carpet, dark wooden cupboard and closet. A TV with several Egyptian and American stations to watch. There was a table with a chair and, of course, the bathroom. 

Daniel put his cell phone on the nightstand and gazed out of his bright window where modern and ancient Cairo melted into one. There were the high glass buildings of hotels, banks and other business towers. And then the mosques and the old buildings. The museums and the bazaars. The Pyramisa Cairo was just around the corner of the Islamic district. He couldn't wait to show Jack everything. For some reason Daniel remembered Cairo much clearer than his time in New York. Probably because Cairo was associated with happiness.

He wished he had a balcony. He liked the light breeze coming  in through the open doors  at Jack's room.  He liked hearing the noises of the city;  c ar horns, far away music from the street bazaars. And the splashing and laughing that came up from the pool. But Daniel's room was to the front side, where the street was. Only the pool side rooms had balconies. His window couldn't be opened. The air conditioing was humming low.

Yawning, he undressed and slipped under the covers in his cool bed. He s tared up at the white ceiling  and s potted a cobweb in the far corner over the window and a few fine cracks above his head. He turned over on his right side and snuggled into the pillow. The pain in his left ear was still there, throbbing. It wasn't as bad as yesterday, but it was still uncomfortable.

He thought about getting a Tylenol. All he had to do was go into his bathroom. But he stayed in bed, gazing out the window again. The humming of the air conditioner seemed to get louder. He wished he hadn't forgotten Amab. He'd wanted to take him, but somehow when they had packed he forgot him. Now the old monkey was somewhere in his bed at home. 

Not that he really needed a toy to sleep.

He got up to take a Tylenol. 

When he was back in bed, he counted t he cracks  in the ceiling.

Six.

Sleep didn't come.

He could read something.

Daniel looked over at the table, thinking about the books he had brought with him. But none of them appealed to him now. He could watch TV for a while.

He scrambled out of bed and got the remote. When he was  back in bed, he zapped through the Arabic news channel, the hotel service channel, a cartoon program, CNN and another Cairo program, called the Nile TV. 

Daniel wondered if Jack was watching TV, too.

Sighing, he turned it off.

He was still tired, but the throbbing in his ear was still there and his head hurt. Daniel looked at  his phone on the nightstand. 

Shouldn't Jack call him just to make sure he was still really in his room and not on a Nile cruise or something? Wasn't he supposed to come over with something to eat and drink. Not that Daniel was hungry or thirsty. But it would just be like Jack to do something like that.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned again. 

Usually, he was grateful just to be left alone. There was nothing more annoying in the world than a worried Jack who fussed over him with meds, food and drinks. Daniel hated to be dragged away from his work just because he was a little  sick . And if he was really sick and home, all he wanted to do was crawl into a hole and wait it out. He didn't want people to call him and ask how he was. He didn't want Jack to sit at his bedside. He didn't want him to come in every few hours to wave a thermometer at him or force him to take pills. Gross. 

So why was he now lying here with his throbbing ear, wishing Jack would come over to do just that? It was he child in him again. Should he ask Jack to sing him a lullaby? Yeah great. Hearing Jack humming 'Twinkle, Twinkle little star' would be a real wonderful experience. Not.

Daniel wondered if Jack had ever done something like that for Charlie. He tried to picture it, but failed miserably. 

But there was a warm fuzzy feeling inside him at the thought of Jack and the knowledge that Daniel could just run over to him whenever he wanted and that he would never be rejected. Jack would never push him away, would never tell him he wasn't welcomed or wanted. They could fight and yell and Daniel knew he was hitting close to the edge from time to time. Jack was making him mad, too. Things had been difficult between them for a while there... 

Yet, like his adult self had always known, there was no doubt in the eight year old part of Daniel's mind that Jack loved him and would always be there.

No matter what.

And today he had realized that Jack still somehow trusted him. That Daniel still had his own room, even though there was potential danger out there, meant something. When they had been on their way to the hospital and Jack told him about the stranger, Daniel was sure he'd end up losing his room. He hadn't been very trustworthy on following rules in the past few months and with a mysterious man in their necks he was sure, Jack wouldn't take any chances.

When he realized Jack hadn't canceled his room, Daniel was oddly touched by this and made a mental vow not to screw this one up. If he wasn't able to go by the rules this time, he would never be treated like a guy again in that matter. He knew he was crossing the lines too often and he always felt sorry for it later. But going right when Jack told him to go left was almost like an inner compulsion by now. Don't let him rule you. Don't let him know you can be ruled. Don't let him think you are really eight... 

He stared at the cracked ceiling again.

Unconditional.

There had never been anybody in his life, after the death of his parents, who had loved him unconditionally, just because he was there and deserved to be loved. Like any child did. Sure, there had been a few foster families who had tried. Daniel had never made it easy for anybody to like him after a few years in foster care.

He had known how it should be in a family. It had just never been right again for him. No one had been able to fill the gaps.

When Daniel had been sick as a small child his mom always had some sort of herbal tea and oils at hand. He remembered being sick during the khemsin times. Those were winds that usually arrived in spring and could last several days in a row. Sometimes they were so harsh that nobody could work outside. The winds caused sandstorms and very high temperatures. 

People got sick during khemsin. Even animals didn't fare well during that period between April and May. There was one time when Daniel had had a fever. It might have been one of his earliest memories. It had been dark inside. His mother had held him in her arms and outside the storm howled. Sand had rained down on their thick rough canvas tent.

They didn't always live in tents. They had a house in Cairo as well. It wasn't big, but there had been air conditioning and Daniel had his own r oom. Funny how he didn't remember that much about staying at the house. His clearest memories were of the weeks when his parents had worked on the dig site and they lived there, since it was easier than returning home every night. Usually they’d lived in the house during the khemsin times though. He couldn't remember why they hadn’t been home that year. Maybe it was a late storm, not expected...

_...Tucked away in his tent Daniel cou _ _ld imagine how the camels would lay down outside and let the wind and sand sweep over them. He'd always wondered why they never got sand into their eyes and nose during a sand storm. But Ahmet had told him camels had something in their nostrils that narrowed them so nothing got into their noses. And they had extra thick lashes, protecting their eyes._

_There were yells from workers somewhere. And his mom was holding him in her arms as they were snuggled into the blankets on their camp beds. Dad had tied all three beds together so they had one large pallet to sleep and snuggle on during the nights, Daniel in the middle, surrounded by quilts and pillows, and his parents. He never felt cold in the cold desert nights..._

...He was lying very still in the bed of his hotel room now. The white ceiling disappeared and he could see the dark tent walls above him. The lantern by the bedside flickered and its golden shine didn't reach the tent top, but dipped everything else around him in a warm light.... 

_..."Mom, where's daddy?" he asked, feeling a little sleepy even though the storm was still howling around their tent._

_"He is still outside, helping Ahmet to secure the sites and other tents," Claire Jackson told him and brushed the blond bangs from his eyes. "We need to go to a barber next week when we are in Giza. Your hair grows faster than weed."_

_"Can I have a rabbit when we go? We will go to the bazaar?" Daniel asked._

_"I thought you wanted a camel," his mother chuckled softly._

_"I know. I want a camel. But a rabbit is soft and I can take it to bed with me. It can sleep with me. And I am not allergic to its fur, am I?"_

_"No, I think not. Maybe we'll find a stuffed rabbit for now?"_

_"I want a real one."_

_"We'll see.... now sleep, Danny." She started to rock him, humming a soothing melody._

_But sleep didn't come. "Mom? Can you tell me a story?" he asked after a while._

_"A short one. What do you want to hear, sweetie?"_

_"Something about Thoth. He was a nice god, right?" His thumb went into his mouth as he closed his eyes. The wind was still roaring. But he felt safe and cozy where he was._

_There was the faint smell of basil oil in the tent. Mom had rubbed it into his temples to ease the headache that had come with the fever. He didn't like the tea she wanted him to drink earlier, but the oil was nice._

_His mom told the story in her soft melodic voice while she was running her hands over his blanket covered body. "Do you remember Ra, Daniel?"_

_"Yes. He was the sun god. He made Egypt and everything."_

_"That's true. Ra had made himself a man, and he knew he would grow old one day. So he spoke the word 'Thoth' and the god of wisdom and magic became alive."_

_"That means he was Ra's son, right?"_

_"Yes, little one. Thoth was very smart and could look into the future. Ra asked him one day to make a prophecy for him and Thoth said, 'There will be another ruler of Egypt after you. He will be the son of Nut.'”_

_Daniel whispered, “Ra got mad at Thoth. He cursed Nut and said, 'Nut will remain childless as she will give birth to no child ever.' He was mean. I don't like Ra very much.'_

_"It was the way of the old gods. Nut had heard the prophecy and was heartbroken. She went to Thoth to seek advice as he was wisest of all gods. She begged him to help her. Thoth agreed to help her if she would marry him."_

_"And she said yes because she was in love with him," Daniel smiled, then frowned. "Mommy... can we get cursed, too?"_

_She looked down at him and the warm light of the lamp gave her face a golden touch and reflected in her glasses. She smiled. "No, Daniel. Those are myths and tales of ancient Egypt. Nobody knows how much of it is true. Cursing people is not common today anymore."_

_"But what if... what if you or daddy discover a tomb and there's a curse on it? Wouldn't you get cursed, too, then?" Daniel asked worried. He had heard stories like this from Ali and the older adults._

_"You know the stories and legends of the pharaohs and gods didn't really happen the way they were told, Danny. Don't be afraid. We won't get cursed," mom soothed him._

_"When I'm grown up, I will find out if they are true or not," Daniel said suddenly. "Some of it has to be true. It is written and told. It can't be all a lie."_

_Claire shook her head, still smiling. "No, Danny. It isn't a lie. It is a legend. Parts are true and other parts are not. We are not sure how exactly all the stories and tales took place. We only know that something did happen."_

_Daniel snuggled closer to his mom, his thumb back into his mouth. He could smell not only the basil, but also the camels and the sand now. The storm was getting weaker, the howling becoming a mere mumbling._

_"I will figure it out," he whispered. "I want to know why their eyes glow."_

_"Their eyes glow?"_

_"I had a dream," Daniel mumbled, feeling the sleep coming now. "A dream of Ra. And his eyes glowed. It was scary."_

_"You are listening too much to the old men and your little friend Ali," Claire sighed._

_Daniel drifted off to sleep, still feeling hot and feverish. The dream of Ra had scared him. But not anymore. He knew it was just a dream. And his mommy was with him. His dad would be too, later. There was no need to be afraid...._

... Daniel blinked at the white ceiling. The cracks were still there. So was the cobweb by the window. Had he fallen asleep?

He had dreamed of his mom. He hadn't dreamed of his mother in years. 

Suddenly he could see her so clearly in front of him. Could remember her voice and her laughter. And how it had felt when she hugged him. The smell of dust that always seemed to be around both his parents. But also the faint scent of a perfume... 

Daniel let out a sharp breath when something seemed to clamp around his heart. He missed her. He missed them both. Oh god, how he wished they were still here in Cairo, living happily somewhere... 

It hadn't hurt like this in ages. It was as though he had to go through all of it again. Like it had happened just yesterday. He could hear their voices... his mom concerned because the cover plate was swaying... his dad telling her it was okay... just before it crashed down on them... burying them underneath while Daniel stood there... watching... and then later when he stood alone next to the two white coffins... 

"Oh, no," he whispered. 

He didn't want to go back there.

"It happened a long time ago. I've been through this. It's all over. I am not really little. I'm thirty five years old and they died many many years ago," Daniel said in a shaky voice.

He threw away the covers and jumped out of bed, opened his closet and pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a fresh t-shirt.

Daniel was halfway to the door, when he hesitated. 

Was it really necessary to run over and climb Jack's lap just because he had dreamed of his mom? It was him who had insisted on the two rooms. Of course he knew Jack wouldn't mind. And he really didn't want to be alone right now... But it  had just been a dream. And not a bad one either. He remembered being held in her arms in the tent and listening to her. She had told him a story... Which one had it been?

The memory was just out of reach. 

The ringing of his phone made him jump. Daniel picked it up and said, "I was just wondering how long it would take you to call."

"Hey... I wanted the room service. Guess I got the wrong number," Jack's voice sounded a little too surprised.

Daniel grinned. "Yeah. Right."

"You still asleep?"

"Sure. I always answer the phone  in my sleep ."

"You don't sound very sleepy," Jack pointed out and after a pause added, "Wanna come over?"

"Uh... I wanted to read something."

"Okay."

"But I could... I mean..."

"No, it's all right. I'll come over later with your meds and something to eat," Jack said.

Daniel slowly sat back on his bed and fiddled with the corner of his blanket. There was nothing wrong  with wanting to be with Jack right now. "They have eight American TV channels here."

"Yeah. I bet you prefer the Egyptian ones though." 

"They are airing 'The Mummy' on pay TV."

"You say The Mummy is crap," Jack reminded him. 

Daniel went over to the other corner of the room. He opened the mini bar and peered inside. "I’ll bring snacks. They have peanuts... crackers.... chocolate... "

"Nice."

*******   
  
  


Jack had to grin when he opened the door for Daniel. They were both wearing dark blue sweats and plain white shirts. And gray socks. He still looked exhausted and O'Neill was wondering if he had slept at all. 

The kid dumped a bag of chips and some chocolate thingies called S&S, which looked like M&M's, on the bed. Then he clasped his arms around Jack's middle, tipped his head back and gazed up at him.

O'Neill looked down. "What?"

"Nothing."

But there was an odd smile on the Wretch's face. Now he poked his chin into Jack's stomach, still looking up at him. "I feel better now."

Jack shook his head. These sudden outbursts of Daniel's kid-side still caught him off-guard sometimes. But it were these moments that let him forget every argument they ever had. There was something about a snuggly Daniel he couldn't resist ever. 

Jack cupped the little face with both hands. He was still amazed how big his own hands were when he did something like this. He tipped the small nose with his right thumb. "Let's check your fever, buddy."

"Okay."

But he didn't move.

"You know I have to walk over to the bathroom to get the..." Jack started.

"Carry me," Daniel ordered.

"Why would I do that?" Jack asked, raising his left eyebrow. 

"Because?"

"Well, you know, I'm old and my knees are shot and carrying my very grown up..."

"Not very grown up right now," Daniel said, his chin still poking into Jack's stomach.

"Ah." He picked him up. Daniel's legs went around him like clamps. So were his arms. "Hey, octopus, don't break my ribs," Jack groaned as they made their way into the bathroom. He let go of Daniel with one arm, grabbed the thermometer from the shelf next to the sink and turned it on. Then he stuck it into the kid's mouth.

"Can fe fatch fhe mofie naw?" Daniel asked around the thermometer, sending drops of spit Jack's way.

"Fill you fop spfiffing af me?" Jack mimicked him. He made a show of wiping his cheek and uttering sounds of disgust as he carried his bundle of joy over to the bed and let him down carefully. 

Daniel giggled around his thermometer. 

Shaking his head, Jack picked up the phone and ordered "The Mummy." As soon as he had made himself comfortable on the bed, remote in hand, Daniel was plastered against him again, flinging one arm over O'Neill's chest and wriggling the other behind his back, clutching at his shirt. It was as though the kid wanted to crawl inside Jack.

Usually Daniel's need for hugs and cuddling was saved for evenings on the couch or when he just needed to lean on Jack a little. This clinging and not-letting-go normally happened after nightmares or when Jack was coming back from missions. And when they were making up after a fight. 

The thermometer beeped. Since Daniel didn't let go of him, Jack pulled it out and took a look. "The fever is still down. Guess you get lucky."

"Really? I didn't feel good an hour ago. But now... now I'm much better," Daniel said as he tightened his arms around Jack's body.

Before Jack could say anything to this, the Wretch continued. "I know, I'm clingy. Don't tell me it has all to do with not wanting to be alone in a strange hotel room while I’m sick. And don't be smug about the fact I missed you just after being alone for... uh... two hours or something..."

"Daniel..."

"Oh, and I won't sleep here tonight. I have my own room and I'm goin g to use it. Even though it's not the same as being at home. And the ceiling has six cracks... and the air conditioning makes funny noises. But I am not..."

"Daniel..."

"I know that, maybe, I feel different about being sick now that I'm this annoying age and size. But I’m not..."

"Shut up."

"Wh... why?"

"The movie has started," Jack grinned as he put an arm around his complicated little friend. 

*******

They watched the first half hour of "The Mummy", snuggled under the duvet Jack had pulled over them. The only noises in the room were the rustling of the chips bag and the action from the TV screen. 

Daniel was amazed how much less the pain in his ear had become. 

He shifted around to find a more comfortable spot and finally turned on his back and plopped his head on Jack's belly. Jack absently tousled his hair.

"I dreamed of my mom," Daniel said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." On the TV screen Rick O'Donnel just kissed Evie and told her to get him out of prison if she wanted him to guide her to the City of the Dead. "I was sick and we were in our tent. We had a big tent, you know. Like the Bedouins. We even had furniture in it. Tables, chairs, a radio... a stove... things like that."

"Sounds cool," Jack said.

"It was. Nothing like the little tents we used to sleep in off world."

When Jack didn't reply to this and just brushed through his hair some more, Daniel continued, "She told me a story. I just remembered which one it was. It was of Nut, the Lady of Heaven. Ra had cursed her so she wouldn't have children who were going to rule Egypt instead of him. And Thoth...."

"I know that story," Jack interrupted, sounding proud of himself.

Daniel blinked and turned away from the TV screen to gaze up at Jack. "You know that story?"

"There's a booklet from the hotel somewhere around here... it has some tales about gods and goddesses," Jack said casual.

"You read that?"

Jack shrugged. "I was bored."

They fell silent for a while. Daniel turned back to the TV, but couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Jack had read things about Egyptian gods just because he was bored. Something was odd about it. He knew that Jack - despite the fact he was denying it - was reading his team’s mission reports very closely. And that he did listen in briefings. But in his free time? Jack would read sport and fishing magazines. And yes, Jack read real books, too. But nothing about Egypt. Nuh-huh. He juggled with anything that looked like a ball, he played the Nintendo, or fooled around with a Yo-yo if he had one. Jack also did crosswords. But reading something historical? Never. 

"You're making this up," Daniel pouted  finally , sure he was right. "You just don't want me to prattle on about it." 

"What?"

"You never read ancient Egyptian mythology," Daniel insisted.

"It was handy and it had pictures," Jack told him. "The old dusty books you have, are no fun." 

"Prove it," Daniel ordered.

"Awright... here goes... Our friend Ra turned himself into human form... well, we know that the snake just took a host because the snake fancied looking like a sexy young guy better than looking like a parasite. Then he put another snake in..."

"Jaaack..."

"Ra made Thoth, Thoth was psychic and so Ra wanted to know what his future looked like. Thoth told him Nut was going to have a kid that would rule Egypt one day. Ra didn't want his ass kicked out of paradise so he cursed poor Nut and told her she would never have any snaky children of her own."

"Nut will remain childless, as she will give birth to no child on any day in the year, neither on any night. I have spoken and so it will be," Daniel quoted the lines Ra had spoken to Thoth.

"Right. Nut had a fit over it because she wanted little snakes, so she told Thoth to either help her or get tortured to death by her a hand ribbon device... and good ol' Thoth said he'd do what was in his power if she was going to be his overdressed princess, marry him and make the little snakes with him. Nut thought Thoth was a stud, so she agreed. Bad thing was; Thoth couldn't break the curse of Ra who was still the head honcho snake. So, Thoth thought it over and visited his buddy Khonsu who was the moon snake... uh... god. Thoth and Khonsu were having a few six packs together and a few games of... chess?"

"Draughts," Daniel said, laughing hysterically.

"Yeah, well... I prefer chess... anyway, they played for a long time and had bets. When Khonsu was drunk like a newt he bet a portion of his own light. Thoth was a lucky guy - but I bet he cheated - so he won most of the games. He won lots of Khonsu's light and made five extra days with it." 

"And he fitted these days in between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year," Daniel chimed in.

"Yep. Poor Khonsu lost so much light he couldn't shine full every night of the month. He got less and less big and then needed to grow again to get back his full shiny glory. While he was doing that, Nut and Thoth had five baby snakes in the five new days that never existed before in Ra's year. Not that it was doing anybody any good. Osiris was born first..."

"And a great voice from heaven proclaimed 'The Lord of All comes forth into the light!'"

"Which only proves how pathetic those guys are..."

"Harmachis was born on the second day. Seth was born on the third day and Isis was born on the fourth day. On the last day Nephthys was born," Daniel finished, grinning up at Jack. 

"Yeah. And we all know how it goes.... but let's not dwell... we kicked Seth's butt. Isis is dead and..." Jack trailed off.

"One day," Daniel said, sobering up, "I'm going to find Osiris and make him leave Sarah."

"I know you will," Jack replied softly.

"One day we'll defeat the Goa'uld. We will find something." Daniel blinked in confusion. Where had that come from? How could he be so sure of that? But he was. He knew. He had no idea how and when and how many more sacrifices and losses there would be on the way. But in the end, the Tau'ri would win not only the fight, but the war.

"Yeah," Jack said in the same quiet serious voice. "We will."

"You and I will," Daniel whispered. "Sam and Teal'c, too."

"Together," Jack said and it sounded like a vow.

Brown eyes met blue ones and for a moment, Daniel felt almost like himself again. He was little and that would always be a struggle. There were still so many things h e missed, so many things he wasn't able to do, and wanted to do. But somehow he knew – deep inside - that his journey wasn't over yet. 

He was going to make a difference again someday. And the ones who were closest to him would be at his side. Did that mean he would get big again soon? Perhaps he would be allowed to do gate travel again anytime soon? He had no idea.

The Mummy started roar ing , startling them both. It also took away the somberness that had been there for a minute. Daniel still had his head on Jack's belly and there were chips crumbs all over the bed and themselves. It had gotten dark outside.

"We missed the sunset," Daniel said, craning his neck to look at the balcony doors.

"Yeah. You hungry? Let's call room service for dinner."

"I had lots  of chips and S&S," Daniel objected.

"That's no real food."

"I can't eat anything else."

"Antibiotics," Jack pointed out, wagging a finger at him.

"Ice cream."

"Real food. You didn't have any real food since yesterday."

"I had breakfast."

"You had one piece of toast."

"Jaaack..."

"Daaaniel..."

He sat up and glared at Jack. "I don't sound like THAT."

"Sure you do."

"No, I'm not. I'm not squealing."

"Do too."

With a thud he lay down again and the back of his head hit Jack's groin, making him squeak in a very un-O'Neill like manner. "Do that again and I won't... uh... whatever," Jack groaned. "Not that I get some anyway."

"Sorry," Daniel mumbled.

"'s okay. I'll live."

"I'm sorry you don't get laid anymore because of me." 

*******

Jack started to fiddle with Danny's hair again. This was a very unpleasant change of mood. A moment ago there had been something peaceful and good between them. 

Now they were back in Twilight Zone.

"Hey, it's okay. I don't need sex. Not... necessarily."

Well, that wasn't the right thing to say. Daniel scrunched up his eyebrows and stared at him. "But you miss it."

That wasn't a question. It was a statement. Jack cocked his head. "I'm doing good with my... you know..."

"Jerking off isn't the same as having sex with someone else," Daniel said in a lecturing tone.

O'Neill closed his eyes for a moment. Didn't Daniel know how awkward th ese words sounded from the mouth of an eight year old? No matter how much of the old Daniel was still there, hearing things like this coming out in that light child-like voice was just odd. 

"Can we please not..." he started, but the Wretch cut him off.

"Find someone."

"Wha... what?" Jack spluttered. How exactly did they move from fighting the snakeheads to discussing his sex life?

Daniel sat up again and turned to face him. "I mean it, Jack. Find someone. Get laid. Get your rocks off, whatever."

"Now, wait a minute, Daniel. I can't just..."

"I'm not telling you to find another love of your life."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?"

"Sex." Daniel shrugged.

"Just... sex?"

"Yeah."

"With...?"

"I don't know. You're good looking, nice hair, nice body, polite... well, if you want to... you sure as hell could find someone if you'd go down into the hotel bar. Your seducing skills are great as far as I recall," Daniel prattled on.

Jack felt his mouth hang slightly open and he shut it, shaking his head. Twilight Zone was the Muppet Show compared to this. 

"You could go down now and..."

Jack put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Slow down, Daniel... this comes a little unexpected."

The kid ducked his head, teeth working on his bottom lip. Jack put a hand under his chin to make him look up again. "I'm okay, Daniel. I don't need to walk around and 'find somebody' just to get laid. I'm not that desperate yet."

"I'm just saying that you don't have to live like a monk just because of me," Daniel mumbled.

"I appreciate that. I really do."

"I want you to know that, if you feel like you need to have sex, I don't mind," he said, not s o self secure anymore. 

"Yes. You do." It was a guess, but when he saw Daniel cringe, Jack knew it was true.

"Okay, maybe I would mind. But I'll get over it. I can't expect you to wait for... whatever. We have to move on. And this is all..."

"Bullshit," Jack said dryly.

"But..."

"We're not there yet, Daniel," Jack stated. "Neither you nor I are ready for..."

"It's been a year," Daniel whispered. "You said we have to settle down and adapt. And you are right."

"Doesn't mean I have to go out and find a one night stand. Or that you have to be happy if I would. And if it ever happens, you will probably not be ready for it, no matter what you think right now."

"Jack..."

"Ah! Let me finish. You know I suck at conversations like this. But you started it and now it's my turn. I can't promise you it’s never going to happen. But when it happens... then what? You can't prepare for that. Don't tell me you wouldn't be jealous or mad at me if I'd start dating again."

Daniel sucked in his cheeks and then let out a breath. "I'll get over it. You're a man. I am... not."

"Look, Daniel. All I'm saying is... It's fine. I don't have to rush things and you don't have to worry about my libido. Okay?"

"Okay," Daniel whispered, an embarrassed blush all over his face. 

Jack let out a breath and waved at the TV screen where Rick O'Donnel and Evie were now kissing in the desert of Egypt. "We missed all the good parts."

With that another spell was broken and they left Twilight Zone and were back in Kansas again. 

Nice.

"Which parts? The movie is crap," Daniel said and let himself fall back on Jack's groin, his head landing once again on the sensitive body parts.

"What about dinner," Jack gasped and ignored the smug grin on the kid's face.

"Okay. You choose."

Of course that was not really the case. 

After they had argued over the menu for some time and finally ordered the room service, everything was back to normal.

**IV**

"One hundred and seven halls," Jack said, staring at the big location plan in the hallway of the Egyptian Museum.

"Great, isn't it? We can spend the whole day here," Daniel beamed.

"We agreed on half day trips," Jack sighed in an almost pleading tone.

"Oh, come on. I'm all right. My ear doesn't hurt and the fever is gone."

"But I don't feel very good, Daniel. I think I have to go back to the hotel and lie down at the pool for a while," Jack whined. 

Oh, yes. He was whining. Daniel snickered. A whining Jack was cute - to a point. "You'll like it," he promised. "They have mummies here."

"Living ones?"

Daniel snorted and tried to read more of the huge plan. He already stood on his toes and craned his neck as far as he could. But he was just too little to overview the whole plan. There were numbers everywhere and a long legend at the side showed the location of everything. 

Suddenly Jack said, "Sorry."

Daniel frowned and looked up at him. "What for?"

"I didn't mean to spoil it for you. We can spend as much time here as you want. As long as you're not getting too tired," Jack told him with a smile.

"Well, that's cool. But we have to select anyway," Daniel said a little puzzled. "We can't do the whole tour in one day... what's up there in the right corner?"

"Room Fourteen. Statues," Jack replied.

"What kind of statues? I can't read it. It's too far up..."

"It says just statues. But there's another room with Hathor ‘action figures’," Jack quipped.

"Ja-ack." But Daniel had to laugh. "I don't want to see Hathor stuff," he decided. He had his own personal experience with Hathor and it was not a memory one would describe as romantic or wonderful.

"Why don't we skip the statue thing and go to the second floor," Jack suggested.

Daniel was about to object, but once he managed to overview the rooms he had to agree there wasn't much on the floor with the statues he really wanted to see. The Alexander the Great room looked appealing though. He tried to read the description of the upper floor. This plan was really not designed for children or little people.

"I want to see the Tutankhamun collection," Daniel said. "It's upstairs, right?"

"Yes. So is the funeral collection and sculptures."

"Then let's start upstairs," Daniel decided.

"If we ever make it through the security checks today," Jack muttered under his breath.

"It's pretty crowded, huh?" Daniel agreed. He let his eyes sweep over the tourists and Egyptians who were standing in four rows to pass the guards that were searching everyone for hidden weapons or anything else not allowed at the museum. 

"I don't like it," Jack grumbled. 

They stood in one of the rows now, families and couples around them as well as students with notebooks under their arms. Most people carried cameras and were reading the visitors guide available at the entrance. 

When they had moved forward in line to that point  thirty minutes ago  Jack  had  bought one, too. 

Daniel opened it and flipped through the  pages while they were waiting. "When I was little," he said absently. "my parents had an exhibition here. It was about the tombs in Giza. A tomb near the Iymery tomb, where we've been before I got sick, was part of it. I remember walking through all these big halls and feeling so small. And it was just as crowded as it is now. I was wandering around. I wanted to see the golden mask of Tut."

They were shuffled forward a couple of steps.

"I can see the guard," Jack informed him.

"I can see only legs and bodies. Backpacks and purses," Daniel mumbled, realizing suddenly that even though he wasn't four or five now, he was still small again.

"What happened?" Jack asked. He placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"What?"

"Did you get to see the mask of Tut?"

"Oh. Yeah, but first...um... I got lost."

"Well, that's a shocker," Jack snorted.

Daniel felt the blush creep into his cheeks. "I was five. I needed to see everything right NOW. And I had no time to waste with waiting for adults to accompany me. So I wandered off," he pointed out.

"And your excuse for still doing it is, what?"

"I don't know. It's just me, I guess." Daniel shrugged.

"Right," Jack said. "That explains a lot."

"I wander off, you shoot at things," Daniel quipped.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's both annoying. But it's what we do."

"Those are different..." Jack started, when somebody bumped into him from behind. 

When he turned around, there was a red haired woman who mumbled an apology and then said in a light panicked voice, "I am looking for my daughter."

She pushed past them, and vanished between two rows of waiting museum visitors. Daniel felt a hand pat his head. When he looked up, Jack said, "If you wander off in here, I'll shoot you."

"I won't."

"Okay. So what happened when you got lost then? Did someone find you?"

"A guard found me on the upper floor. In the room with glass sculptures of gods. I was a little in panic by then. He escorted me back. Later that afternoon daddy took me to the room where the mask was."

Daniel remembered how shiny it had been. His dad had told him the story of Tutankhamun several times. It had been very difficult for Daniel to believe that a little boy could rule a whole country. His dad had explained how there had been lots of adults behind the boy who had done the real work. Daniel had been fascinated for a while by the life and myth of King Tut. He had read everything he could find about him. 

"I always wanted to be an archaeologist like my parents. And I wanted to find spectacular treasures like Howard Carter did," he said.

"Carter?"

"Uh, yeah, funny isn't it? They guy who found the Tut-tomb. His name was Carter."

"Cool."

Daniel's dad had told him there were personal diaries of Howard Carter in the Griffith Institute in Oxford. During college time Daniel had read copies of the diaries and since then he’d always wanted to read them again. It  had  never happened  so far . A couple years ago he had found them on the Internet as a download file. He had saved them to his hard drive, but never got a chance to re-read them. There was always too much work, too many other things to research. He was wonderin g if Tutankhamun had  been a Goa'uld. They never heard of him as such. Maybe when Dainel was back in Colorado he would get the diaries out again.

They had reached the guards now. Two men searched them and looked into Daniel's backpack. They even took a look at his camera before they let them pass.

Once they had entered the great hall of the museum people started to swarm out in every direction. Daniel felt Jack's hand tighten on his shoulder. 

"Let's find the stairs," he said. "Maybe it is not that crowded upstairs."

They passed guided groups and students sauntering along the statues while scribbling on notepads or in books. It was noisy. Children were crying or laughing and running around. Parents were shouting and trying to find their kids or make them stay near them. People talked to each other and over all of it several guides tried to speak loud enough so the tourists could understand them. Some spoke English, others French or Arabic. It was as frantic as a beehive.

Daniel thought it was an odd contrast. The museum itself was monumental. Huge halls with pillars and high ceilings, He knew the building had been designed in 1896 by a French architect named Marcel Dourgnon. It was built in the neo-classic style that seemed to suit the ancient and classical monuments. 

The inside galleries were spacious and the walls very high. There was natural light coming from diffused glass panels on the ceiling and from the windows of the first floor. The middle atrium was the highest part of the museum which housed the tallest statues and they were arranged like one was standing in an ancient Egyptian temple. Daniel stared up at the ceilings and the galleries built around the walls. 

The noise was disturbing. He remembered how it had bothered him even as a small boy when he had walked through the halls. It should be quiet. Like in a library. They were walking through centuries of history here.

Daniel felt his hand creep into Jack's as they walked up the wide marble stairs to the upper floor. He only did this on very rare occasions. But he had no intention of getting lost and he knew Jack felt much better this way. Once Daniel felt the warm fingers clos e around his own, it wasn't awkward. It felt good. 

First they visited the Royal Hall of the Mummies. Jack paid a surcharge and they were reminded to be silent out of respect for the dead.

They walked along rows of sarcophagi which were mostly made of granite. Since there weren't that many people in the mummy halls, Jack let go of Daniel's hand for now. 

Some of the sarcophagi looked like giant boxes and were laid out in lines on pedestals. Others who looked like mummies were standing upright against the walls, their rigid faces framed by enormous head dresses. They looked like an army of giants with oversized heads and frozen smiles on their lifeless lips. 

Some of them were so huge, their heads almost reached the ceiling. Others weren't much larger than Jack, some even very little. Some looked like they were made for gnomes.

The silence in the hall was wonderful. Of course there were people who just couldn't stay silent. Like one Colonel O'Neill, who bent down and whispered a hollow, "Boo," into Daniel’s ear. And in the stillness of the hall and in front of the gloomy looking guards, Daniel pressed a hand on his mouth to stifle a giggle. 

They wandered alongside glass cases and reached the mummies of sacred animals.

"Creepy," Jack whispered as they looked at cats, ibises, dogs and hawks, all covered in mummy clothes and lying in sarcophagi. 

"They were buried with their owners," Daniel whispered back. "Pet monkeys and cats for example. Or they were sacred. Some of them..."

"Silence please," came a voice from somewhere.

Daniel  blushed and they continued their walk. 

They reached the human masks which stood upright behind glass. There were also mummy cases where the body was wrapped in its mummy cloth. On a table in the middle of the next room a fragile thing was displayed in a glass case. It was the mummy of a human embryo, but it looked like an alien creature.  It s face was covered with a coating of gold. The Egyptian believed still born children became the evil genii of their families, so they weren't honored properly.

And there were lots of others. Some of them seemed to laugh at them, showing their yellow teeth. Others had an expression of sadness or suffering on their faces. Some  of them were small, but still beautiful somehow. Some of them were damaged through time. They looked at masks in the color of dead flesh and others that were made of gold. The eyes of the masks were always too large an d the eyelids wide open. The pupils seemed to stare at them and even Daniel had to admit that so many mummies in one place were a little creepy.

Which was ridiculous of course. He had seen things much more scary. As though he was reading his thoughts, Jack asked in a low voice, "Do you remember that pyramid on P2X 33... something?"

"Ziggurat."

"What?"

"It wasn't a pyramid... was Babylonian."

"Whatever... there was that thing that was eating the Goa'uld aliv e in its  sarcophagus." Jack shuddered.

Daniel grimaced. "I think I have seen enough of this," he mumbled. "Let's go."

"Yeah. Let's look at King Tutty," Jack agreed, taking his hand again.

When they left the mummy hall, Jack recited in a gloomy voice, "And each royal mummy that our lantern lights reserves for us a fresh surprise and the shudder of a different fear..." 

"Pierre Loti?" Daniel asked with raised eyebrows.

"La mort de Philae." Jack shrugged. "My brother wrote an essay about it in school. It was cool. This guy walked through the hall of mummies in the middle of the night."

"I have that book somewhere at home," Daniel said.

"I know. That's where I found it last year or so. I read it in the bath tub... well, parts of it anyway," Jack explained.

"Really? Where was I?"

"Don't know. Working. You worked a lot when you were big."

"Oh. And then you went through my books?" Daniel couldn't believe it. He had never seen Jack with one of his books.

"Occasionally.”

“You never cease to amaze me,” Daniel said in awe. 

They walked over into the next room wh ere the Tutankhamun exhi bition was.

*******

While it had been quiet in the Mummy Hall, the noise in the other halls was almost unbearable. Jack held Daniel's hand in a firm grip, glad the kid had taken the initiative first.

They walked among glass cases with shields, amulets, vessels, decorative stuff, more vessels, weapons, sculptures... and Daniel was talking a mile a minute. Jack didn't get half of what the kid was prattling, which was partly due to all the other people talking around them, and the yelling guides in between. It was too loud, too warm and the smell of age and dust seemed to get thicker every minute. Go figure. There was no air conditioning in that damn museum.

Jewelry, a bowl, an owl sculpture, papyrus with something written on it, more jewelry...

Jack lost track of it. All he wanted was not to lose Daniel and to get out of here ASAP. But he had no illusion of them leaving until they had made it through the exhibition of course. And Jack would not complain about it because it made Daniel happy. And if walking through this made Daniel happy, so be it. 

Suddenly he tugged at Jack's hand and pointed towards a glass case in the middle of one of the smaller rooms. "Look. That's the statue of Anubis. It faced the entrance way, guarding the dead king's tomb."

"Anubis is a dog?"

"A jackal."

"Well, that fits." 

It was a giant black jackal with ridiculous long pointed ears and a small long nose.

"Anubis was the god of the dead and wore a jackal head," Daniel lectured. "The origin in his role as a god lay in the fact that jackals were heard howling in the desert to the west of the Nile at sunset during burials. After a funeral, Anubis took the deceased by the hand and introduced him into the presence of the sovereign judges where the soul of the deceased would be weighed. Anubis guarded the mummy from evil forces in the night. When the body was embalmed, a priest wearing a jackal mask acted as Anubis's representative. He was also guardian of the Sacred Esoteric Mysteries."

"I bet you mentioned that before." Jack sighed and felt badly about it a second later, when Daniel quietly said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to bore you." 

"I'm just not too fond of that guy, that's all," O'Neill replied.

"Yeah, I know. Me neither," the kid mumbled and yawned.

"Hey, you tired, buddy?"

"I'm fine."

They entered more rooms and finally stood before the case with Tut's funeral mask.

Or they would have stood in front of it if no t for all the other tourists blocking their way, staring through the glass, making pictures and pushing each other away t o get a better look at it. Daniel craned his neck and stood on toe tips. Then he let go of Jack's hand and tried to jostle his way through a group of Japanese people.

O'Neill got hold of the kid's jacket collar and pulled him back.

"I can't see anything," Daniel whined.

"I have an idea, " Jack told him. "Could you just pretend you are eight for a while?"

"What?" There was a suspicious look in the blue eyes behind the glasses.

"Trust me?"

"Uh... sure."

"O-kay. Up you go." He picked the flyweight up and settled him on his shoulders, expecting a disgusted protest momentarily. But Daniel just said, "I bet you've wanted to do this forever."

"So how's the view?"

"Great. I can see the mask now. Can't you get any closer?"

"I'll try." Jack started walking through the Japanese who were glaring at him. He nodded and smiled at them. "I'm sorry, but my kid here has bad eyes. We need to get a closer look at Tutty's mask if you don't mind?"

"Ja-ack. Will you stop calling him Tutty?"

Finally they stood more closely and Daniel co uld tower above the few remaining people, "It is great," he told Jack. "It's of solid gold and was placed over Tutankhamun's head and shoulders after his death. It weighs about twenty four pounds."

"Wow. Heavy head," Jack said. He gazed at the narrow eyes and fleshy lips and wondered if Tut had really looked like this. 

"The stripes of the head dress are made of blue glass. So is the false beard. And look at the ears. The lobes are pierced for earrings. But when they found the mask the holes were covered with gold foil. You see the collar? There are segments of lapis, lazuli and quartz in it."

Daniel placed both his hands on Jack's head and bent over his left shoulder so he could read what was written on the white card that was attached to the mask. "Your right eye is the night bark, your left eye is the day bark, your eyebrows are those of the Enbead of the Gods, your forehead is that of Anubis, the nape of your neck is of Horus, your locks of hair are those of Ptah-Soker. ..."

"Daniel... don't fall off," Jack warned. But Daniel’s arms slung around his neck and he bent even further downwards. 

"It's the inscription that's engraved on the shoulders and the back of the mask. It's a spell that shall protect the mask. It first appeared on masks of the Middle Kingdom, some five hundred years before Tut's time. It was copied into the Book of Dead later."

"Ah. And the Book of Dead was..." Jack started, realizing too late that this would be followed by another outpouring of Daniel's inexhaustible knowledge.

But before Daniel could answer, a kid’s voice next to him said, "You should know things like this if you come to this museum. It is basic knowledge, Mister."

Jack stared down at the girl who was waving one of the visitor’s guide under his nose now. She looked familiar. And sounded familiar, too. 

"It's all in here."

It was the same kid they had met at the pyramids three days ago. Must be the same kid. She looked at him with the same "I-know-it-all" expression on her face. Suddenly Jack knew what she looked like. A little Mongolic, but not quite. Her skin wasn't really yellow but her eyes were Asiatic or something like that. Hey, Daniel would be proud of him for figuring it out. 

"The Book of the Dead contains ancient texts that were commissioned by the deceased before they died. It was some sort of guide to the happy afterlife," Daniel said in an untypical arrogant tone from somewhere above Jack's head. 

"And how did they use it?" little Miss Nosy wanted to know.

"They took it with them on their journey to the underworld. It would grant the help and protection of the gods while proclaiming the deceased's identity with the gods to attain an afterlife of bliss in the Fields of Reeds."

"Fine. But you don't know how many chapters it has," she challenged.

"Two hundred. But they were never found listed all together," Daniel answered right away, then added, "Well, reading it up is easy. I don't need a book to tell you anything about Egyptian history you want to know."

"Hey, kids," Jack interrupted, voice weary. "I think I get it."

He made his way out of the beehive around the Tut case, then grabbed Daniel, lifted him up over his head and placed him on his feet again. 

"Oh sure. You're all knowing," the girl, who had followed them, sniped.

"I studied stuff like that," Daniel snapped back at her.

"Then you're a geek."

"And you are what? The goddess o f wisdom?"

Jack fought down the urge to laugh. Now they were glaring at each other like they were going to start pulling hair or rolling on the floor fighting any moment. The girl said something in a foreign language, Jack recognized as French, though he didn't understand the words. D aniel blinked for a second and then answered her.

Miss Nosy frowned and let out a flood of words, Jack had never heard of.

Daniel, however, answered with a clear, "Fikk wle, Sharmuta!" 

Jack bellowed, "Daniel!"

The girl stared at Jack. "What did he say?"

Daniel started, "I said F..."

"DANIEL," Jack hollered, seriously considering tweaking his ear or swatting the back of his head.

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. "What!?"

"You know WHAT. Apologize."

"She didn't even understand it," Daniel pouted.

"And I don't care what it meant either, you idiot," the other kid blurted out.

"Bitch," Daniel fired back translating at least one of his former words with that.

"Smart mouth!"

"Dumb..."

Jack decided it was time to put an end to this. "All right! That's enough!"

Now they were both glaring at him.

"Could you..." he started, but was interrupted when Daniel yelled, "She started it!"

"I didn't!"

"Oh, you called me a jerk!"

"Well, you are a jerk."

"And you are a stupid..." 

She took a step forward and gave Daniel a push. He pushed her back.

"HEY!" Jack grabbed both of the little buggers by the back of their jackets and quickly pulled them apart. "Will you stop that!"

"But he..."

"Sh!"

"She did..."

"AHT! I said stop it! Hold it, right there!” After a moment of gloomy silence, Jack took a deep breath and asked the girl, "Where are your parents?" 

"Dead."

Oh, here we go... "Right. Where are you evil careless foster parents?"

She blinked at him. "I lost them."

"They're probably happy now," Daniel snorted.

Jack gave him "the look" and then, keeping a tight grip on both kids, he marched them away from the crowd of visitors. When they reached a quieter corner of the room, he looked down at the two grim faces and shook his head.

"Okay. What's your name?" 

She just stared at him.

"Look," Jack tried with a weary sigh. "If you lost your parents, we have to find them. We have to inform one of the guards and..."

"They're not my parents. My parents are dead."

Daniel glanced sideways at her. "That's not funny."

"It wasn't a joke, egg head."

"Could we do this like civilized people, please?" Jack interrupted.

"The last time I saw them, was when we walked into this room," she muttered. "They must still be here somewhere."

"What's their name? Maybe we can let  security  call out  for them ."

"Walker. Ruth and Hank." 

"Okay. Here's what we do. We'll go to those nice guys in the security uniform s over there and tell them what happened. And you two don't start it again. Understood?"

She shrugged. Daniel gave a nod.

Jack placed one hand on Daniel's and the other hand on the girl's shoulder and steered them over to the hall entrance where two men in black suits guarded the doors. Jack was about to tell them what had happened, but Daniel was faster. He started talk ing to the men in Arabic as he gestured at the kid next to him. One of the guards nodded and listened. The other clicked his radio and barked a couple of orders. 

Then he said something to Daniel, who turned around to the girl. "Your foster mother has already been here and asked for you a couple of minutes ago. They were searching for you in t he Tutankhamun exhibition and were about to call you out just before we showed up. The guard contacted the other guard who is with your folks now. They are coming over."

Miss Nosy shrugged.

"And, hey, I'm sorry about your parents," Daniel added after a pause.

"I don't need your pity."

"I know."

Jack thanked the security guards who smiled at him and told him what a smart kid he had. "Speaks great Arabic."

"Yeah. He's a natural."

“Show-off,” the girl spat at Daniel.

“Oh, look who's talking. Who are you; Hermione Granger?”

“At least I'm not Draco Malfoy.”

“Kul khara we moot... ow!” Rubbing the back of his head, Daniel spun around and glared at Jack. 

“Knock it off,” Jack snapped.

Daniel's nemesis sniggered and Jack briefly considered swatting her, too.

At that moment a woman and a tall thin man crossed the room. Jack recognized the woman as the redhead who had bumped into him this morning. So apparently this wasn't the first time they’d lost their kid. 

"Anna! Are you all right," the red head as ked, worried.

"I'm fine."

Jack rolled his eyes. Was this something, kids le arned at the orphanage? The standard line for everything?

"We are going home now," the thin man announced in a tight voice. "This is the fourth time you just left us."

"You were able to find her in this chaos four times?" Jack asked amazed. If Daniel would have managed to get away just once, they would have been out of here in the blink of an eye. Jack might be a marshmallow. But he wasn't insane.

The woman turned to Jack, an exhausted smile on her pale face. "I'm sorry. I hope she didn't give you any trouble."

Jack shook his head. "No. We had fun. Right?" He poked Daniel's back. "Right?"

"Lots," Daniel replied without batting an eyelid.

"Oh... I'm Ruth Walker. This is my husband Hank. And our daughter Anna." 

They shook hands and Jack said, "Jack O'Neill - This is..."

"Daniel," Daniel said coolly.

"I just live with them," Anna spoke for the first time since the Walkers had arrived.

Hank looked like he wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out. Jack smiled at him somewh at pitifully. _Welcome to parenthood. A whole new world full of joy and happiness._

"Anna," Hank said. "Say thank you to Mr. O'Neill, and then let's go back to the hotel."

"Thanks," Anna muttered and walked off without waiting for her foster parents.

The woman said a quick goodbye and rushed after the kid so she wouldn't lose her again.

Hank pulled a tissue from his white pants and wiped a thin layer of sweat from his temple. "She hasn’t been with us for long. Everything is still so new to her," he apologized to Jack.

"Good luck," Jack answered, meaning it.

Hank nodded and followed his wife who had caught up with Anna.

When they were out of sight, Daniel let out a breath. "I had no idea her parents are really dead."

"You couldn't know that," Jack said.

"No, but I even didn't believe her when she said it the first time."

He put a hand on Daniel's back and they walked out on the galleries. "Neither did I. About your little rants in Arabic...”

Daniel had the decency to cringe. “I know.”

"What IS it with you? You can't say something like that to a girl," Jack scolded. “No matter if she understands it or not. You're a linguist, for crying out loud. Don't you think you could come up with something better than that?”

"Do you know what she said to me before that?" Daniel objected, irritated.

"Uh, nope. But that's no excuse."

"Neither do I. But it must have been something real mean."

Jack chuckled against his will. "You didn't know?"

"I speak twenty three languages. And she picked the one I have never heard before," Daniel fumed. “And how come you swatted me and not her?”

“I was tempted, but I'd rather not be sued by her foster parents.”

Daniel snorted. “They'd probably have thanked you.”

"Well, let's go home, okay? I'm stuffed with ancient knowledge. There's no space for more in my poor brain," Jack changed the subject.

"We didn't see the half of it," Daniel protested halfheartedly.

"Let's not overdo it. We can come back another day." The kid didn't protest when Jack took his hand again as they walked back to the entrance.

When the fresh air hit them, they both took a deep breath. They wandered across the green grounds around the museum and passed a little fountain. Daniel stopped and held his hands into the cool water. Jack sat down on the stone edge next to the kid. Their faces were mirrored into the clear water. 

"Look at that. I'm old," Jack muttered, rubbing a hand through his silver hair. 

"You only look that old because I look too young," Daniel said, grinning.

"Thanks. That's comforting."

They let their fingers splash through the water.

"Jack?" 

"Daniel?"

"Did you have fun at the museum?"

"Sure, it was great," Jack said.

They looked at each other for a second and then burst into laughter.

"You are such a bad liar," Daniel said and splashed water at Jack.

"Hey, I tried," he answered and cupped Daniel's face with his own wet hand. "And it wasn't really bad. Come on, kiddo. Let's go."

They were about to enter the parking lot, when Jack felt the hairs in his neck rise. He stopped and pulled Daniel close to him, putting one arm protectively around his chest.

"What?" Daniel asked in a whisper.

"Not sure. I think we're being watched," Jack muttered.

It was just a hunch. There were countless people wandering the grounds of the Egyptian museum. But Jack could feel it almost physically. Someone was tailing them. He fingered his sunglasses out of his jacket and put them on. Then he scanned the area carefully. There was a man standing in the shadow of a palm tree, looking straight at them. Jack couldn't make out his face. He was covered in brown robes and head dress. 

"Go," he told Daniel. "Don't look back."

They walked fast to their car. When Jack had Daniel s ea t ed in the back seat he looked again at the group of palm trees. The stranger was gone. 

**V**

Despite being a little puzzled about the stranger at the museum, Daniel was too exhausted to stay awake for long when Jack was driving them to the hotel. 

When they arrived he stifled more than one yawn on their way up to the room. 

"Stay with me, please," said Jack when Daniel pulled his own key out.

Daniel looked at his friend's face and saw the concern in the brown eyes. Oh, what the hell... it wouldn't hurt to stay.

He slumped on Jack's bed and yawned again, then asked, "Are you going to call Hammond again?"

Jack shook his head. "We don't have any evidence that guy was really after us. Did you see him?"

"Out of the corner of my eye. It was just a guy. Could have been a coincidence."

"Maybe."

Daniel tugged at the covers and stared down at the camel's and pyramids. "If something happens... do we have to leave?"

"So far nothing has happened," Jack answered uneasy. "We'll keep our eyes open."

"But you are worried, right? And you'd like to get us out of here as soon as possible." Daniel sighed.

"No, it's okay. We can stay. We just have to be careful."

"I wonder who's behind this. You still think it's the NID?" Daniel asked gloomy.

"Hammond confirmed this morning that none of the NID guys had left the country. Not that it means anything... I guess they have undercover people we don't know of. So far it looks like they're just observing. They could have reached us a couple of times. But they didn't," Jack explained.

"We could change hotel," Daniel suggested.

"And then what? If they're tailing us, we might as well stay here and wait it out. Maybe we should just wait and see what they're up to."

Daniel felt a bubble of anger rise inside. It was almost laughable. How was he supposed to live like a normal kid in this new childhood if he couldn't even relax and have fun on vacation? 

"Why does this happen to me all the time? I want to have fun for a change. Is that too much to ask for?" He bit his lip and blinked furiously to get something out of his eyes, when a warm hand rubbed the nape of his neck.

"C'mere, Danny," Jack whispered.

Daniel let himself held by the two strong arms and buried his face into the soft fabric of Jack's black shirt. His eyes stayed dry, but he could feel the blood rushing in his ears as he tried to fight the bubbling anger. "It's just not fair," he groaned.

"I know, I know," Jack soothed.

Daniel clutched Jack's shirt and squeezed his eyes shut. Callused hands rubbed his back. "I'm sorry," Jack mumbled.

"Not your fault," he managed hoarsely.

"But it sucks big time."

"I hate the NID. I hate them. They're ruining everything. They didn't move a finger the whole time. Why now?" Daniel growled.

"I don't know. Maybe they think it's easier to act while we're on our own here. Maybe they are just observing us for whatever reason. I don't have a clue."

He took a deep gulp of air and felt himself relax against Jack's lean body. His fingers uncurled from the shirt and when he pulled back from Jack, he managed a grim grin. "If they try anything we're going to kick their butts." 

"Yeahsureyabetcha." 

"I'm sweaty. Do you mind if I take a bath?" Daniel asked after a moment.

"Go ahead. But remember your head has to stay dry. No water in the ear, so no washing your hair," Jack reminded him.

Daniel let out a sigh. He wished he could wash his hair. It felt a little filthy after days without washing. They had gotten ear plugs from the hospital. But they were too big for his ear and tended to fall out.

He ran himself a bath and poured some of the bubble bath it they had  bought at the hotel shopping mall when they realized that Daniel had some difficulties showering without wetting his head. The showers in their hotel rooms weren't newest standard. The beam of the hand shower seemed to spray everywhere and the hose was a little stiff. Somehow holding the shower head in one hand hadn't gone too well. And after he had soaped himself and picked up the hand shower again to rinse, the water always seemed to hit him in the wrong places, mainly his head, hair and ears. It was like wrestling with a snake. 

So they had gotten bubble bath. 

He knew Jack had to bite his tongue not to tease him about it.  H e used to have bubble bath at home, too. But some time ago Daniel had decided he'd rather take showers again than to bath since it was quicker and more "grown up". If he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he sometimes missed the baths. He loved the bubbles. But once he had loudly and firmly made  it clear he wouldn't take baths anymore, he couldn't take it back.

So this was Daniel's opportunity to take bubble baths again and enjoy it secretly.

When he had happily settled in the warm tub he started to blow away the hills of lather foam. He wished he could crawl under the huge masses just for fun. Daniel gazed at it, lost in awe for a moment about the glittering little bubbles surrounding him. Absently he started to build little foam sculptures.

A few minutes later, Jack popped his head in. "You okay in there?"

"Mmmh... 's nice," Daniel slurred.

"I thought I'll get you some fresh things to wear from your room."

"'kay." Daniel blinked and gazed up at Jack who was standing in the open door, one hand on the handle, gazing at him. 

"You have foam on your nose," he finally said and smiled. "That's..."

"Don't you dare saying the 'C' word," Daniel warned, but smiled back.

"What? Cool?"

Daniel balled up some of the foam and threw it at Jack, who ducked out of the room and slammed the door shut, calling smugly from outside, "Watch that ear! Oh, and you ARE looking CUTE!" 

When the water got cooler, Daniel scrubbed his body, got out of the tub and dried himself, which didn't take much time since he was so small. He remembered how he used to glare at this body in the mirror for minutes when he had been new to this. 

The short skinny arms and legs, little hands and feet and the small torso had freaked him out so much. All the bulk he'd build up over the years, his body hair... gone. Not to mention the private parts... well, there seemed to be nothing left... it was something that had scared him to no end in the beginning. He had lost his libido. It had been one of the most disgusting things about being physically a child in the beginning. 

Somehow being mentally a man and physically a child with no sexual feelings anymore was plain scary. Daniel had looked at Jack sometimes, knowing what they had done together, what had turned him on... and nothing happened. Of course that was a good thing somehow. Being able to "feel" things while he looked like a kid would have been horrible. 

What was left was the need for physical contact on a... at best times... buddy-like basis. Mostly it was more like the wish to be cuddled and hugged. Sitting on Jack's lap was a big issue for Daniel. He craved it and yet had tried not to give in to it in the beginning. It was just not possible. He couldn't sit on his ex-lover’s lap. Besides, it seemed too babyish for a seven year old to climb laps. Oh, but he'd never sat on someone's lap since his parents had died. And it felt so good.

Being rocked felt good, too.

So he had finally accepted that he needed this up to a point. He gave in to it when they were alone and today he didn't even think about it anymore. He was drawing the line at hair ruffling in public though, mostly. In the hospital he couldn't stand the thought of being touched by Jack in any way. Not because he didn't want it. But he had known he'd start to cry and bawl like a baby the moment Jack hugged him. His ear had killed him and the doctor and his nurse made him mad and he'd been scared. That had been the weirdest thing. He'd been terrified by a simple ear examination. He, who had been through endless injuries and tortures during his adult life.

Another thing he still needed to get used to. Would he ever reall y cope? 

At least his own body didn't bother him too much anymore these days. It was his. He had gotten used to it. Although he still had difficulties accepting the limits it was giving him. Only from ti me to time did he catch himself staring at the mirror, wondering what it would be like to be big again. Or how it would be to watch this body grow into the man he once was. At least physically. He knew he wasn’t going to be entirely the same man.

That was what still freaked him. The knowledge that he'd be different. That maybe he already was different. That Jack's influence and the talks with Svenson were changing parts of his personality.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to be changed. Even if it were good changes like not hiding behind work when he felt like crap. Or not running away from the need to get comforted by a friend. Or not wanting to be alone when he was sick. Giving in to the need of someone ** ’ ** s closeness and accepting that he could be the weak one and didn't need to be in control of everything all the time. 

But all the things he'd carried with him through his adult life were the things that had shaped him into who he was. Or had been. He had been able to let go some of his barriers when he was an adult. Being in a relationship or having very close friends was nothing he had ever taken for granted. 

And it had been different on Earth than on Abydos, too. On Abydos he’ d been Danyel and while he had loved Sha’uri and her family very dearly , he still kept most things to himself. He didn't need to reveal all of it. They didn't need to know about his childhood, the life he had before. He’d been there, had worked and lived with them and showed them things. 

He’d been a husband, a teacher and to Kasouf he was still a son. He had been happy there for the first time in his life since his parents’ death. But maybe part of this happiness had come from the fact that he had stepped out of his old life and left everything behind that had ever haunted him. His childhood, the disgrace at the academy... all the memory lanes he had never wanted to go down again.

It didn't last.

Jack had come through the gate to bring him back "home"... and after some time Daniel had gotten new friends, a new family and his life had become a daily roller coaster. There’d been little time to dwell in between saving the world and fighting the Goa'uld. And one day his best friend had become his lover and had started to not only nag and bitch, but also kiss and nibble and coax his way into Daniel's heart and soul... 

So, yes, he had learned to open up and let them into his life. But he had been in control of it most of the time. He was drawing a line with everyone, even with his closest friends whom he considered family. Even Jack had his line. He was the one who got closer to Daniel than anybody else in his life. But there was always that fine barrier Daniel had built around himself. 

Now that he was little, the urge to just let Jack take care of him was so overwhelming from time to time that Daniel had to fight it with all his strength. He didn't want to feel and live like a little kid. More important, he didn't want to let Jack take over so often. 

Yet, it felt good to push away responsibilities from time to time. It was nice to just work in a relative safe place and let others save the world. Yes, he still missed being off world. For the sheer exploration of other planets and cultures. And yes, he still wanted to be useful, wanted to make differences. But he could make those differences when he was a man again. He had more time on his hands now. It wasn't all bad anymore. He wouldn't stay eight forever. 

Maybe... just maybe... he could... "Live with it?" he asked his face in the mirror. The steam from the bath still hung in the room so his vision in the glass was a blur.

A moment later Jack called out from the other room, asking if he could use the shower now. Daniel realized he was getting cold. Dumping the towel on the edge of the tub he walked out and put on the fresh red shirt , underwear and new sweatpants Jack had put on his bed. 

An hour later, Daniel was fighting tiredness as he was reading the museums guide. Stifling yawns and rubbing his eyes, he hoped Jack was too engrossed in watching the news to notice anything. 

Daniel skimmed a few chapters about various gods and goddesses,  being a bit amused about the known historical backgrounds  of Seth, Hathor, Ra or any of them. He knew. He knew the "truth" and the truth. For a moment he pondered the thought that Ancient Egyptian history had lost a  bit of its magical fascination for him since he knew what some of those "gods" really were. It wasn't as if he "had" to read anything in the guide, because there wasn't really anything new to learn for him. But part of him liked the colorful pictures of the sculptures and all the things they hadn't seen today. 

"I'd say it's nap time for archaeologists," Jack said, without turning away from the TV.

"I'm not tired," he yawned, knowing how that sound ed .

"We want to go out for dinner, remember? You told me, it's a surprise."

Oh. That. Daniel had almost forgotten all about this evening. And he had planned all of it so well. Or, as much as he’ d been able too. He couldn't make reservations, couldn't convince the desk clerk to do it for him without his "dad's" permission. It had been frustrating. He had tried - over the phone. And then Jack had to confirm to the desk man that whatever Daniel wanted to book would be okay. 

He wriggled himself under the red covers and let Jack take his glasses. He yawned again. The bath had made him all warm and nicely tired. Maybe he could sleep for a while.

"Sweet dreams," Jack said  as his eyes drooped close ...

_... Ever since Dani_ _ el's parents attended the exhibition at the Cairo Egyptian museum, he wanted to see the funeral mask of king Tutankhamun. And one day the urge was so  _ _ strong _ _ , he couldn't wait for his parents or his nanny to go with him. He had to see it _ _right now. And since everyo_ _ne_ _was so busy, he just thought it might be a good idea to take a look at it on his own. This way he wouldn't bother anyone to accompany him. And he was a big boy. Not a baby anymore. He could already read and would find his way back to the hall where his parents worked, without help._

_Danny waited until his parents were busy in a corner, supervising the building of a temple wall, while his nanny was talking to someone from the museum. Then he took Amab and told him that he could go with him if he was real good and didn't wander off. Amab promised to be good and off they went._

_Danny and Amab walked the high halls wit_ _ h so many foreign people of all ages and sizes and colors. Everyone was here to see the famous Tutankhamun thing _ _s or the funeral exhibition on the upper level._

_The blond, blue-eyed little boy made his way through rooms with sculptures of all kinds of gods. He stared at a statue of Hathor and giggled because she was shown as a woman with a cow's head. It looked funny. He knew she was the goddess of music, dance and arts. She often appeared as a cow bearing the sun disk between her horns, or a woman wearing the sun disk and horns on her head._

_On he wandered, through the groups of people. He craned his neck as far as he could to see the sign that would show him the way to the Tut exhibition. Entering another room, he found himself finally at the right place._

_This was the Tutankhamun hall._

_Daniel strolled alongside the glass cases. Then something caught his eyes and he stopped in front of a particular big case in the middle of the room._

_It showed a big black dog._

_"No, it's a jackal," Daniel mumbled to himself. "This is Anubis, the god of the Underworld."_

_"What do you know about Anubis, Danny?" a warm deep voice asked him out of the blue._

_Daniel turned around and looked at his daddy, who was standing next to him. He had a thin lawyer of dust on his hair and there was a pencil stuck behind his left ear._

_"Daddy! Did you look for me? I'm sorry I ran off. I just wanted to see the mask...”_

_"And instead you found the jackal," daddy said. He didn't seem to be angry with him, which was very strange. He never liked it when Daniel wandered off._

_"Anubis is scary. Even more scary than Ra. He's... the most ancient of the Egyptian gods. Anubis was the guide who was leading souls to the underworld. And he is watching when the embalmers prepare the mummies. To see if they do it right. And he let the dead make tests and stuff about their knowledge of the gods when he took them through the underworld."_

_His father gave him an appraising nod and said, "That's true. But you don't have to be scared, Danny. He is long gone."_

_"No, he is not. And he is very powerful. He is more powerful than all the others. He is evil. Even the others think he is too evil to have the right to be called a... one of them."_

_Daddy frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"_

_"They banished him. But he came back and wanted them to let him be in their midst again. He gains more and more power. He is evil," Daniel whispered as the jackal sculpture in front of him started to melt and change into something else._

_The black figure whirled and stretched, expanded and changed form._

_Danny screamed._

_He felt his dad's arms around him._

_The jackal was a tall shadowy figure now, standing before him, staring down at him._

_Another scream escaped the boy's mouth when his eyes were fixed on the god's head._

_Under the hood of the black cape..._

  
  


..."Danny!"

Jack's voice guided Daniel out of the nightmare back to the hotel room in Cairo. Late golden sunlight flooded through the balcony doors. There were noises from the street now. He was panting and his heart was racing.

"No face," he stammered. "He has no face... oh my god... there was just nothing."

"Daniel? It was just a nightmare," Jack tried to get through to him.

"Only this shimmering... like death lights... so deep... so..."

"Shh... it's okay. I'm here. Wake up, buddy, come on," Jack coaxed him.

"I know. I was just..." Daniel blinked and freed himself o f Jack's arms. He tried to get the pieces of his dream back together.

"I know you don't want to talk about your nightmares," Jack said, a worried look on his face, "but maybe it helps."

"Anubis. I dreamed of Anubis. And he had no face," Daniel said slowly. This had been a different nightmare than the ones he was used to. And he needed to talk about it. It seemed to be important to let Jack know. 

"No face as in...?"

"I dunno. He wore this black hooded cape. And underneath there was a... mass of light... or more like a watery or … oily... surface with light underneath. It looked a bit like the wormhole in the gate, just dark, black... I can't describe it. He is not a normal Goa'uld. He is... something else."

"It was just a dream, Daniel," Jack reminded him.

"But it was so real. It was... like... looking at him was like looking at death himself." Daniel shuddered.

"That would be, because he's the god of the dead. I think we spent too much time in that museum."

"He's a Goa'uld."

"Yeah. There's that."

"Nobody knows what he looks like. He makes a big secret of himself," Daniel pointed out.

"He's smart. He delegates."

"Or he doesn't want to be seen..."

"Daniel, it was a nightmare. And I think if Anubis really looks like death himself, he would make sure everybody sees him. Big ego, show effect and all that."

Daniel thought about that and finally decided to let it go for now. Somehow he knew what he had seen was what Anubis really looked like. But he had no proof until they would actually meet him. 

**VI**

Jack took one last look into the bathroom mirror.

"Dress up, but not too much," Daniel had said.

Okay. Black long sleeved shirt, creamy cargos - the same color as Daniel's ex-favorite sweater - black shoes... a tie? Nah. He had shaved and his hair looked... well, it was gray. 

Silver, Daniel would correct him. Or more like salt and a little pepper. Silver haired heads were sexy in Daniel's book.

Or had been.

There was a knock at the door.

When he opened up, Danny stood there, cheerful expression on his face. He was wearing new gray Levis, a white t-shirt and black sneakers, his mini bomber jacket slung over one arm. 

"Are you ready?" He brushed past Jack into the room.

"Yep. Do we need jackets?"

"Oh yes. I think so. And... um... money."

Jack grabbed his wallet from the table and pocketed it away into his leather jacket.

"I wish I could pay for this." Daniel sighed.

"But you do. It's just me signing the check."

"Yes, I know. Still. It doesn't feel right."

Daniel had insisted on paying. Since Doctor Jackson was officially MIA now and Daniel changed names, he didn't have his own credit card anymore, Jack had to pay now and the kid would transfer the money from his own new bank account to him later. It was a little tricky and they never talked about this. Until he was 11 years old and could have a Debit card, he would have to live with it.

Jack patted his back on their way out. "Let's not dwell. Let's party. You look great."

After a moment, Daniel shrugged and the grin was back on his face. "You don't look so bad yourself."

They didn't take their rental car for this trip. Daniel had told Jack he was supposed to drink at least a little, so they took a cab.

The kid climbed into the backseat. But when the driver turned to Jack and asked him where to go, it was Daniel who told him their destination - in Egyptian, of course. Very impressed by this, the man spent the whole drive chatting with Daniel. 

Jack took a few minutes to observe the guy. But there was nothing suspicious about him, so he let them chat and zoned out. He watched the hectic and overcrowded City pass by on their drive. 

The setting sun dipped everything in a red and orange light. It was loud and turbulent on Cairo's streets. They crossed downtown with its sky scrapers and malls then drove through older and poorer neighborhoods with Jerry-built houses and gloomy narrow alleys. In the distance loomed the onion spires o ff the mosques and other churches. Daniel had told Jack there was a Jewish, a Christian and a Muslim district in Cairo. 

They crossed the Nile and had a grand view over the city with lights twinkling everywhere. The driver was still talking to Daniel who seemed to have the time of his life. Jack caught himself smiling at that. 

They passed lots of cafés and bars on their way and finally the cab stopped in front of a Restaurant.

A restaurant on a Nile boat. Well, this was going to be fun.

Jack paid the cab, smiling and nodding to the driver's praising of the sweet and smart little boy he had there. "Good soul," the driver said. 

The restaurant was a huge boat. The windows were all lit up and there were several illuminated outdoor decks. On the top of the boat was a red neon sign; "La Pacha 1901".

Daniel tugged at Jack's arm. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Oh yeah, pretty cool.”

"There are twelve restaurants and bars in there. You can have everything from Italian, Chinese, over Oriental and American food to Arabic and French. I ordered us a table in the L'Oasis. It's with view on the water," Daniel explained as they entered the boat over the short gangway. 

At the entrance an elderly man in traditional Egyptian robes... no, tunic - Daniel said they were called tunics, not robes - welcomed them and asked which restaurant they wanted to visit. Daniel told him and Jack gave the usual nod when the man looked at him expectantly. 

It was something they were doing automatically now. Jack didn't have to speak for Daniel. If people were confused about an eight year old taking care of most his businesses alone, well, that was their problem. Jack jumped in where he had to and in the meantime just stayed back and let Daniel do his thing. It was one of the few things he'd never questioned and they never had to discuss. He was so used to letting Daniel do the talking that he had never even thought of changing that. Daniel was short, but he was not brain dead, as he so often pointed out to Jack. 

They walked alongside the lower decks and climbed up stairs. It was an Open Air restaurant, located on a terrace, with a dance platform. A bar offered cocktails and long drinks. People were drinking and talking while two busy bartenders were shaking and mixing drinks. A waiter approached them and asked their names.

"Jackson O'Neill," Daniel said.

"Very well. Follow me, young sadiq." The waiter smiled and led them to a table for two with view across the Nile.

Candles were lit and the menus laid out in front of them. They ordered a mezza - according to Daniel that's what aperitifs were called here - for Jack and sparkling water for the kid. 

Daniel looked over the menu. "I wasn't sure what you'd like. I mean, they have an Italian restaurant here, too. But it's on a lower deck on the inside... and I wanted to look at the stars while we eat. You know, I wanted to sleep under the stars on the trekking tour. Now, since we're not doing that, I thought... well... eating under the stars would be nice. And you can order Oriental, French, Italian... and seafood. Whatever you like."

"I think I'll go for..." Jack stopped when his eyes fell on the prices for the meals. He had known from the looks of the place this wasn't an ordinary restaurant. But it seemed to be more than just a little expensive.

Daniel looked up and flashed him an encouraging smile. "I'll take the sushi bar. And dessert of course... um... and since I'm paying, I'd like to have the coco mocha dessert. And coffee." 

"O-kay. I settle for the mixed grill food plate... and you're not having coffee."

Daniel pouted, then sighed and they both said in union, "Antibiotics."

"This is so not fair," Daniel added.

"Sorry," Jack said and meant it. It was too late for coffee anyway. But he'd been willing to make an exception since they weren’t going to bed anytime soon. Daniel had planned something else for tonight.

They got their aperitif and water and with it came two small bowls and a basket of bread. Jack watched Daniel dip his bread into the oily paste and tried that, too. It was good. Tasted like sesame and garlic.

"It's called Mezze," Daniel explained. "You can serve it with chili, too, or lemon. It's a dip."

When they had ordered their meals and Daniel was off to the sushi bar to fill his plate, Jack lea ned back for a moment and let his eyes sweep over the dark still water and the many boats alongside the Nile shore. Lights floated across the water and there was music coming from everywhere. It was a balmy night.

It smelled  of the various foods that were served here. A couple on another table just got something flambéed in a pan. He watched the blue and yellow flames spark. The woman cheered and kissed the lucky guy at her side enthusiastically when the waiter placed the pan between them. 

He turned around to keep an eye on Daniel. The kid was at the sushi bar, carefully examining the many different choices. Jack watched him as he selected his food; a little bit of salmon, a piece of swordfish and shrimps. That was something else that hadn't changed; Daniel's liking of food. Pineapple on pizza, cous cous, sushi, all kinds of fancy food he had tried on alien planets. Daniel was an explorer through and through.

With an unconscious sigh, Jack picked up his own plate and went over to the large grill where he could choose from many sorts of meat. It all looked delicious and he picked chicken, beef and lamb. On the next table he found salads and dips.

They met at their table and started eat ing while they got their drinks delivered. Jack had ordered Sakara Classic, which was actually a beer brewed by the Egyptian branch of Heineken, called Al Ahram, from Giza. 

On the little stage near the dancing platfor m, a guy named Fadel El-Kordy started sing ing in Arabic to music from flutes and other instruments, played by an orchestra or a band behind a curtain. 

It was nice. They picked from each other ** ’ ** s plates and enjoyed their dinner, while the singing of Fadel went from joyful and fast to melancholic and slow. They didn't talk much during the meal. But it was a comfortable silence and they reached dessert in no time. 

Daniel got his coco mocha cream and Jack an espresso. He had asked if Daniel would survive watching him drink one while he wasn't allowed to. And he had gotten a nod and a generous smile in return. The waiter offered Daniel mint tea which he happily accepted. . 

It was completely dark now and a full moon emerged in the sky, coloring the Nile with silvery stripes of light. It was perfect. The food, the music, the night, the stars... It would have been romantic...

Jack forced away thoughts like this. He wasn’t going to ruin this night by getting melancholic.

"Wanna have some drinks?" he asked Daniel when he spotted free seats over at the bar. 

"Drinks?"

"They sure have something non alcoholic." Jack shrugged.

Daniel's face lit up and they went to the bar where the kid climbed one of the high stools. The bartender flashed them a smile and handed over the cocktail card. 

Daniel selected a cocktail called "Safer Sex on the Beach."

"Peach juice, pineapple juice, orange Juice... and lime juice, " Jack read. Then he tipped his finger on another one on top of the list. "This one is with ginger ale and grenadine..."

"Uh, yeah. Actually, I like ginger ale a lot..." Daniel mumbled.

"Buuut?"

"No way am I going to drink something called ‘Hathor's lover’."

Jack started laughing, then stopped abruptly. It wasn't really funny, considering Daniel's experiences with the goddess of wine, drugs and Rock'n Roll. Daniel frowned for a moment and then started laughing too. "I know, I'm..."

"Nah, you're not. And if it helps; This drink is usually called 'Shirley Temple,'" Jack grinned.

"Ugh..."

They laughed again.

"Here's one for Teal'c," Daniel smiled. "Gentle Sea breeze... Cranberry juice, pineapple juice and a bit of mint."

"Peachy."

Daniel let his finger wander over the alcoholics. "You drink this... Agent Jack," he grinned. "It has Jack Daniel's in it."

"Yes, sir."

They placed their orders and watched the bartender  shake the shaker. It took a while before they got their drinks since the bar was crowded. The men who mixed the drinks made a real show of it, reminding Jack of that old movie with Tom Cruise. 

After the Jack Daniel's, he tried something more fruity. It was a collada of some kind with rum and coco cream. It looked very fancy with lots of fruits stuck to the glass and a blue umbrella on top of it. 

A female dancer appeared on stage, her hips covered in floaty white silk while her belly was bare and her breasts were only covered by a  tiny glittering bra. She wore rings and bracelets of jewelry around her wrists, neck and ankles. She started to move in slow motions,  performing some kind of belly dance to Arabian music.

Daniel stared at her for a moment, then snorted with laughter and ducked his head, blushing.

Jack frowned. "What's so funny?"

"No... nothing," Daniel mumbled and started blowing into his straw until little bubbles appeared in his drink. 

"Hey, that's not fair. Share  the joke  with me," Jack muttered.

"Don't you think she looks a little like she has... um... cramps or something," Daniel whispered.

He stared at Daniel, then at the dancer. She looked pretty normal to him. Okay, he wasn't much into belly dancing. Maybe if a guy would try... were there male belly dancers? Well, she was beautiful and she obviously knew how to move to the sweet oriental music. It fitted the atmosphere very nicely.

But the munchkin seemed to think it was hilarious. 

"Daniel...?"

"Sorry, sorry, I just... I don't know. It's a basic cultural thing. And I have seen people do this off world, too. I always thought it is erotic... I never thought it was funny. I shouldn't think that now, right?" A low fit of giggles emerged. He covered his mouth with his hands.

O - kay. This was odd. Or maybe it wasn't. Obviously the part of Daniel that was  eight thought it was funny. Her impressive breasts swayed along with the rest of her pliant body. There was a turquoise stone in her navel sparkling every time she made a certain move. When she threw the arms over her head and circled her hips, waves were going through her whole body. To Jack it was aesthetic, graceful even. Her black hair was held together by some fancy thingy, Daniel would know what it was called. And there was an almost invisible veil in front of her face. 

However, Daniel's mentioning of cramps was a little distracting. 

"Look... all the jewelry. She looks like a Christmas tree," Daniel chortled softly. "It looks like her breasts are going to fall out of her..."

"Daniel, don't go there," Jack said, laughter bubbling up.

"Sorry. But she isn't very good, you know. I have seen far better dancers." 

"She isn't very good? Looks pretty nice to me," Jack grinned.

"No. If you look at her dancing and not at her body, you will notice. Her movements are often too fast and not floaty enough... and that's why she's so dressed up. She wants to distract us with her looks."

"Works for me." Jack shook his head. "Or it did before you were putting funny images about cramping Christmas trees into my mind." 

They both cracked up and it took them a while to compose themselves. They watched some more, but Jack got distracted again by the slurping and bubbling sounds Daniel made with his straw. He was playing with his drink, bubbling it up until it almost spilled over the rim of the glass. 

"Daniel..." he started.

"Huh?"

"Drink. Don't play with it."

"It's fun. Look... it's almost spilling. But just almost." Then he seemed to become aware of what he was doing and blushed. He placed the glass on the bar. "Sorry."

Jack let out a sigh. It was so natural by now to say things like this. But he didn't want to spoil the fun for Daniel. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to nag."

"But I’m gonna ruin my shirt if it spills," Daniel said quietly. “I shouldn't behave like that. Especially not in public.”

"Yeah." Jack looked at him for a moment and then shrugged. "And no, you shouldn't. But then again, we're on vacation. So, go ahead... bubble away. It's fun." 

He grabbed his own glass and blew into his straw. Heck, he hadn't done this in ages. Daniel stared at him, then sniggered and continued bubbling up his drink. For a while they were occupied in this game. They even managed not to spill their drinks. After this they tried one other cocktail. 

"I'm full," Daniel informed him later. Then he stiffened a yawn behind his hand and shook his head as if to get rid of tiredness. "Do you want to see more belly dancers?"

"Oh, I don't think so. But we can, if you..."

"No. Let's do something else. How about a short trip down the Nile? We could rent a boat for an hour. Or we can take a walk... I wanted us to go the Opera house, but they're not playing anything today. Only ballet and I think that's not your thing," Daniel told him.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "The Opera house?"

Daniel shrugged, "You like Opera. They play Aida in the Open Air Area several times a year. But not in October. Oh, and I thought of the Lightshows at the Pyramids, but... well, it's very crowded, I guess. And since we have someone looking for us, I thought you wouldn't want to go there at night." 

"I think I'd like to take a boat," Jack decided after a moment. 

They should go back to the hotel. Daniel was still on medication and looked worn out. But he seemed to be so concerned about making this evening perfect. And the dinner had been great. If Daniel fell asleep on a Nile boat, Jack would just carry him to the cabs later.

***

When they walked down the Saray El Gezira, Daniel let his hand slip into Jack's. He felt like it and it was already dark so nobody would notice. And did it really matter if anybody saw? His reasonable part knew nobody would even look twice at a kid holding the hand of his dad, or guardian or whatever. There was just always his own awareness of what he was that was holding him back so often. Sometimes he was getting tired of his own fights. Sometimes he wanted to let go. But he couldn't. Not completely.

They passed many other boat restaurants. Some of them were moored and others offered dining cruises where the guests would float down the Nile during dinner. There was music coming from all the boats. It was a mixture of sounds and laughter and voices. They passed couples sitting on benches along the Nile, kissing in the night shadows. 

"We never did anything like this when..." Jack began absently and then stopped mid sentence squeezing Daniel's hand. "Sorry."

"No, you're right. We never... you know... did something romantic. Like Venice or Paris," Daniel agreed.

"Yeah. Guess there wasn't enough time between saving the world and watching you recover in the infirmary."

Daniel snorted. He knew that wasn't the real reason. But there was no point in dwelling.

They fell silent again.

A moment later he pulled Jack over to a pier with little colorful wooden boats. There were blankets and pillows in them instead of benches. 

"Those are native Egyptian boats. They're calle d feluccas," he told Jack.

There were lanterns on each side of the barc. 

"They look kinda... ancient," Jack mumbled doubtful. 

Daniel talked to a young Egyptian, who was in charge of the boats. He wanted to know how much they had to pay for an hour on the river. The boatman looked at him and gave him the lenient wide smile, Daniel knew very well by now. The man laughed and then went over to Jack. "Your child wants to bargain with me."

"Oh, he's good," Jack answered.

"You speak Egyptian, too?"

"Nah. He is the expert."

"I can do business with child?"

"Yep."

The boatman laughed again and shook his head. Then he turned to Daniel and they started to bargain about how long and how much. After they agreed on a price, they shook hands. Then the man wanted to know his name. "Ismack eh?"

"Ana ismee Daniel."

"I could use you for tourists. Speaking good. Very good," the boat guy smiled.

As it turned out they weren't the only ones in the felucca. The young guy who was also the captain, ushered them into a boat where three elderly women had already made themselves comfortable. The captain poled them away from the dock and raised the sail as they headed into the fairway. 

Jack and Daniel sat on big cushioned pillows. There were other, bigger, boats with chairs and tables on it, but Daniel thought the one they had chosen was just perfect. The floor was covered by red threadbare carpets, the boat itself was a heavy wooden construction with one big mast for the sail in the middle.

The felucca sailed upstream with the winds. The Nile was one of the very few rivers that flowed north. On the other hand, the prevailing winds came from the north to the south, which meant that people could sail south against the stream. And then they were able to just drift back downstream to the north. 

The breeze, fresh and strong, seemed to embrace them. It appeared to come from all directions, but it wasn't too cool. When they moved further away from the shore, the roar of the heavy traffic on the streets faded to a gentle rumble, absorbed by the water. They could hear laughter and chatter from other feluccas near them on the river. At one point they passed a motor launch.

"Look, those are water taxis," Daniel said, waving at the long boat loaded with a bunch of teenagers who were singing and clapping their hands to the bleary sound of music from a radio or CD player. It was too far away to make out the words, but the craft glowed with youthful happiness. Some of the kids waved back at them.

"Isn't this so beautiful," one of the elder ladies sighed. "All the music and lights. It's like the Arabian Nights tales. Wonderful." She had a British accent and looked like a nice lady in her elegant light blue coat and her white curly hair. Her two friends – or maybe they were sisters - looked almost the same. And they were chatting and giggling like young girls. 

"Isn't the Nile one of the longest rivers of the world," she asked her friend, who was reading in a tourist guide.

"Yes, dear," she answered. "It is four thousand miles long."

Daniel bent to Jack and whispered in his ear, "It's four thousand one hundred thirty two miles long."

"Aren't there two rivers that meet somewhere and then go on as one?" Jack asked. 

"Yes. The blue Nile and the white Nile. They meet in Sudan. The white Nile is a lot bigger than the Blue Nile," Daniel explained.

He let his eyes wander over the water. "When I was a kid," he started, and then stopped and bit his lip. Hopefully nobody had heard him say it.

"When you were much... younger," Jack jumped in.

"Yeah, that... um... we often used the Nile taxi when we went shopping in Cairo. We parked the jeep somewhere and took the boat to the other side. From there we walked to the Khan el Khaili market or wherever we wanted to go. Unless we had heavy stuff to carry, it was easier to do that than to find a parking space in the middle of the city. We had to do some walking from the shore to the market, but it was still better than taking the car."

The three ladies looked at him. The one with the glasses bent over and asked, "Did you live here?"

"Um, yes. My parents used to lived here... until I was seven," Daniel replied. 

"Oooh, how interesting that must have been," her friend chirped.

Daniel heard Jack chuckle quietly next to him. He turned around and slapped his older friends arm. "That's not funny," he whispered as low as he was able to.

"What? Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are cute," Jack whispered back.

Daniel almost choked at his laughter. "What?" he breathed, biting his tongue.

"Sleeping Beauty," Jack grinned.

"How old are you?" Flora, or Fauna asked Daniel and he had to cough several times to get his voice under control.

"I'm...um...eight," he finally managed.

"Oh, so you're back on vacation now," she said. It was not a question and Daniel decided not to argue. He was on vacation after all. 

The three ladies bowed over the brochure again and tried to read it in the dim light of the lanterns. Daniel couldn't resist. He turned to Jack and leaned into him, to whisper in his ear, "Which one is which?"

"The one with the purple coat is Merryweather... in the green jacket, that's Flora and the little one with the blue coat, is Fauna," Jack mumbled.

"You're impossible." Daniel grinned.

Merryweather closed  the brochure with a sigh. "I can't read it in the dark. I wanted to know where the name Nile has its origin."

Without thinking, Daniel answered, "The word 'Nile' comes from Neilos. It was a Greek name for the Nile. Another Greek name for the Nile was Aigyptos which also is the source of the name 'Egypt.'" 

Fauna, Flora and Merryweather immediately turned to look at Daniel in amazement.

"How interesting," Fauna cheered. "What else can you tell us?"

Daniel blushed and shrugged, already regretting he had said something. "I really... uh... don't know... I just... "

"Don't be shy, young man. I was a teacher at a School in London. If you are interested in history don't hide it. It is a good thing," Flora interrupted resolutely.

Her two friends nodded firmly at that.

"What do you know about the Nile history?" Flora asked Daniel. One could tell she had been a teacher by her tone of voice. 

"Well, the first few settlers built houses of papyrus reeds that were all tied together in columns, with thatched roofs. The walls were made of straw, mud, and clay. Later, settlers used the clay to build bricks. With the bricks they built stronger houses. Small villages started to appear along the Nile River. The people of these villages learned to irrigate and divert the water during the flooding season. Most of it was farmland," he explained, his voice getting more and more secure with each sentence. 

He was the master of power point presentations after all. He couldn't help it. When people asked him, he had to tell them and give detailed answers. It was in his blood. Jack referred to it as "lecture mode" and Daniel knew he was probably half asleep by now. But the three ladies were grateful listeners and it was nice to share his knowledge with people who weren't listening to him just because they had to. This wasn't his job, this was fun. And Flora, Fauna and Merryweather had fun listening.

"Remarkable," Fauna beamed.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Daniel mumbled.

"Huh, I'm not a Ma'am. I'm Molly. Those are Dolores and Fanny," Fauna, err, Molly, told them.

"I'm Daniel and that's Jack," Daniel said.

"Oooh," the one called Dolores chirped. "Your Jack is very handsome. Are you married, Mister Jack?"

Daniel let out a giggle and tried to get a good look at Jack's face in the dim swaying light of the lantern. This wasn't very fairy-like. This was more like "The Golden Girls." 

The grin was audible in Jack’s voice, when he answered politely, "No, Ma'am, I'm not." 

"That's good. Oh, but I guess I'm a little too old for you, son." She giggled.

Daniel ducked his head, sniggering quietly. He had never heard anybody call Jack "son." Well, General Hammond might do that every once in a while. Jack nudged him with his elbow and when Daniel looked up he could see him smile, too. 

"Dolores, you are impossible," Flora-Fanny tsk’d. "You are embarrassing him."

"No offense taken," Jack assured them.

They were far enough on the river now, so that they could just make out the lights of the restaurants, clubs and parks along the shore. The skyline of riverside apartments on the Maadi side of the Nile contrasted with the high reeds and palms of the Giza shore.

"Aren't there several legends surrounding the Nile River?" Molly asked after a moment of silence.

Fanny nodded. "Oh of course, honey. There are lots of. Maybe our young man here can tell a tale or two?"

Daniel licked his lips. "Sure. There are some... The Egyptians always knew the Nile would flood each year and bring new life and abundant grain. A basin irrigation system allowed the flood waters to flow gently into each field, cleansing and renewing the earth each year. So the Nile for Egypt means life. And it held lots of mysterious legends. The Nile is believed to send the dead to the Underworld for example."

"Of course. Isn't that thrilling?" Fanny smiled. “You're a smart cookie, Daniel.”

Daniel felt himself blush. "I studied this," he said quietly. "I am... sort of... an expert. It's not unusual or anything."

"It is outstanding," Dolores insisted, then bent forward. "Can you tell us more?"

"Oh, yes, please! I'd like to hear more about this, also," Molly chimed in.

"Go for it," Jack said. "You might not have an audience like this again anytime soon. You know me and the ancient stuff."

"You’ll fall asleep," Daniel teased.

"No. Actually this is very nice. So, go on... Enlighten us," Jack said. And he really didn't sound as if he was about to glaze over.

Daniel rubbed his arms. He was getting a little cold. Suddenly he realized he had left his jacket in the restaurant. Damn. There had been nothing in it, but he had liked it. He told Jack about it, half expecting to get a few smart remarks about how forgetful he was. 

But Jack just asked if he was cold. Daniel shook his head and before Jack could ask him again, he started to talk about Ra. 

"Ra had only to think and a creature would take form. Ra is also said to have created man from his eye, and Ra became the first king on Earth. The idea that the god Ra was the first king is the seed for the belief that a Pharaoh was both King and god. After Ra gave up his kingship to ride across the sky, Osiris became king with Isis as his queen. Osiris taught Egyptian men to be civilized. He told them how to farm and how to worship the gods. He also taught them to build temples. Several legends about the death of Osiris exist. In one legend, Seth cut up Osiris' body and cast it in the Nile, and Isis shed so many tears that the Nile came over its banks. The flooding of the Nile each spring was caused by the tears of Isis as she sought the body of Osiris."

"Oh, yes," Fanny chimed in. "In another legend, Ra ordered Thoth and Horus to find the body of Osiris and bind it in bandages. Isis then breathed life into Osiris, and Ra sent him to be the Judge of the Dead."

"Oh my god. How suspenseful," Dolores breathed.

"You are very gifted, young man," Molly said.

Daniel shook his head. "Thank you. But I learned all this a long time ago. It was hard work. And it's my hobby, so it's just fun to learn."

“I'm still impressed,” Molly said. “It was nice meeting you, Daniel.”

“Likewise,” he said. When he felt something warm and heavy settling around his shoulders, he automatically snuggled into it. It was Jack's leather jacket. He stuck his arms in the much too long sleeves. It was warm and smelled like Jack, which made him feel all cozy. He pulled the jacket tighter around himself. “Thanks, Jack. Aren't you getting cold now?”

“Nah, I'm good.” 

"You take good care of this child, Mister Jack," Dolores said as she leaned forward and patted Jack's knee. Daniel hid his grin behind the collar of the jacket. 

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll do my best," Jack answered sincerely. 

When the ride was over and all of them had climbed out of the boat and up the stone stairs back into the noise and pollution of the city, Fauna, Flora and Merryweather waved a few kisses at Daniel and off they went. 

They turned on the sid ewalk when Daniel saw two guys sitting on a bench together. Their figures were barely seen in the dark. The lanterns on the street didn't give off much light. But the young men were definitely kissing deeply and their hands were exploring each other under their shirts. He wasn't able to look at them too closely , but he was sure they had to be tourists. 

He didn't know about the gay scene in Cairo - to be honest he didn't even know much about a gay scene in Colorado Springs or anywhere else. Jack and he had never visited gay bars or clubs. It was too dangerous. Being caught would have meant the end of Jack's career. 

But Daniel  was sure that gay sex or men kissing in public wasn't allowed anywhere in Egypt.  T hose guys risked getting arrested if they were caught. 

Jack had seen it, too. He gazed at them, his eyes fixed on the two lovebirds. The boy wished he could read Jack's eyes and figure out what was going on in the silver haired head. But it was too dark. Only here and there a flicker of light danced over the angular face.

And then they had passed by and left the two guys behind. 

*******

It was late and Jack considered looking for a cab. On the other hand it was still warm enough to walk for a while and the music coming from the different restaurants and boats was nice. So they kept strolling down the sidewalk. He just realized they had to go back to the La Pacha 1901 to ask for Daniel's jacket, when the kid walked over to a bench near the shore and sat down on it.

The way he ducked his head and started swinging his legs was a sign Jack had learned to read very well. He sat on the bench  beside Daniel. The jacket slid down the small shoulders and Jack pulled it up again.

"What's up?"

There was no answer for a moment. Then Daniel mumbled, "We have to get my jacket. If it's still there."

"And that's a problem?"

"No. Guess not."

"So, what IS the problem then?"

"I'm sorry." Daniel pulled his glasses off and rubbed a hand across his face. He sounded tired and defeated. Jack didn't like that kind of voice one bit. And he still had no idea what was going on. Five minutes ago, Daniel had been relaxed, cheerful even. It had been a great evening. So... 

"Why? What for?"

"I... I wanted you to have fun tonight." 

"I did. Dinner was great and the boat trip, too," Jack assured him, meaning it. It had been a great evening. Everything from dinner to the boat trip.

"Dinner was okay. But then I ruined everything 'cause I had to laugh at the belly dancer. And on the boat... I bet you had better things in mind, than  t aking a boat trip with me, three old ladies and... me babbling about ancient Egypt. I wish we could have gone to the Opera. Or the Lightshow. I even tried to get tickets for some sort of ball game... they play baseball in Cairo. Did you know that? But nothing I had in mind worked out the way I wanted. And they wouldn't let me into a Nightclub or a Health club for men. Or anywhere else where you could have had real fun." Daniel was talking fast, the frustration in his voice more and more audible. He had his hands buried into the pockets of Jack's jacket and was slumped so deep into it, only his legs and his head were peeking out. Which made him look like a turtle. 

Whoa! What the heck was going on here? Jack put a tentative hand on the kid’s leg to still the swinging movements and make him look up. "What's this all about, kiddo? You have to help me out here. Because I really don't get it."

There was a long silence. 

"I wanted to buy you a gift," Daniel blurted out. Before Jack could say anything, he continued. "There was this cool chess game. The figures were all made out like gods and goddesses. I saw it at one of the shops at the hotel... But I couldn't buy it without a credit card. I didn’t have enough cash money. And I didn't want to ask you, 'cause it would have been so silly to let you buy your own gift. " Daniel said.

Jack groaned inwardly as he was hit by the clue bus. Holy crap. He hadn't even thought about it himself. When Daniel had said he’d take him out this evening Jack had just thought it was a nice idea. He was really getting senile. Then again they had never celebrated birthdays big style. 

Daniel said softly, "I mean, it's your birthday and all. And I wanted to..." 

"Danny, you got me a fabulous dinner and a really nice trip on the Nile. You don't have to buy me anything. It's okay," he assured his little companion. 

"But I wanted to. We can't have sex anymore so I wanted you to at least have some fun. And not listen to me prattle on about things you don't care about... I wanted us to... I don't know..."

Jack shook his head. "Daniel, when you were a guy, you always prattled on about things I didn't care about. You did that either because it was your job or just to annoy me."

"Yeah, but I knew then that you loved listening to me, because you thought my voice was sexy. And you loved when I nibbled on my pen during briefings. You practically drooled over it.”

“Wait – you did that on purpose?” _Bastard..._

Daniel gave him a sheepish grin. “Sometimes I did.” But then he looked sad again. “Now my voice is... squeaky." 

Jack nudged him with his elbow and tried to be flippant. "It's not squeaky, goofball. It's kid-ish. And I still love listening to you." 

"Why?"

"Because..." Jack thought it over for a moment and then shrugged. "I’m used to it." 

"Ja-ack. Being used to something doesn't mean you have to love it. I was used to allergy shots. But I never ever loved getting them."

"Yeah, well. I love you. And when people keep telling me what a smart kid you are, I'm... uh... proud."

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. How can you be proud of me? I know all this stuff because I learned and studied it for a very long time. I'm no eight year old genius. What I do, what people praise me for, is like cheating."

"I'm much older than you. I've always been older. And I never knew half the stuff you do. I was proud of you way before this happened," Jack admitted somewhat embarrassed.

Now Daniel blinked at him, looking a little flattered and a little touched. "You were?"

"Yeah. And besides... I bet when you were really eight you were too smart for your own good. I figure now you can even learn a hell of a lot more. So you're going to be a thirty something year old genius again one day. Even more genius than you are now."

Now Daniel rolled his eyes. "Oh, and being a genius is a great thing, right? Does that mean I'm going to be even more geeky than I was before?"

"Yep. Don't you worry. You're going to be your usual annoying, smart mouthed, geeky self again. Well, you already are - But only in a Daniel-ish good way. "

"Thanks a bunch, Jack," Daniel huffed. Then he snorted and sat up a little straighter on the bench.

"You're welcome. And hey - I never drooled in briefings." 

"Oh, yes. You did."

"Didn't."

"Jaaack. You're being silly."

He clapped Daniel's back encouragingly, hoping this crisis was over. "Let's try to get your own jacket back, Space Monkey.  I’m kinda fond of mine. "

An hour later, Daniel's jacket back with its owner, they arrived at their hotel. Daniel tried to stop yawning on the way back to their rooms but he was almost falling asleep in the elevators.

Jack pulled Daniel's keys out of the kid's pockets and unlocked his room. Once they were inside, the munchkin flopped down on his bed.

"What about undressing and brushing teeth?" Jack asked amused, as he pulled the little black sneakers from Daniel's feet.

"In a minute..."

"And take your antibiotics," Jack reminded him. 

Daniel muttered something about child abuse and scrambled up to go into the bathroom while Jack checked the room for bugs.

Then he sat on the bed, deep in thoughts. When Daniel came back and crawled under the covers. he smelled like toothpaste and there was a faint scent of smoke from the restaurant in the kid's hair. 

He snuggled in and closed his eyes. "Jack," he muttered after a moment, "can you stay until I..."

"Sure."

This wouldn't take long. Daniel  was already dog tired. But like so often, he couldn't just fall asleep as long as there was something on his mind. So after a short while, he mumbled, "When I was a man we could do things together. Like playing pool, go to Jell-o wrestling... having pizza in a bar, having beer and wine in a bar..."

"Now we have pizza at home and we still go out. Like today. Or we go to games, even though you're always complaining about that. Or to exhibitions and museums, which I always complain about... So nothing's changed that much."

Jack turned off the light on the nightstand, hoping that would get Daniel to sleep.

No such luck. 

"It's not the same though," Daniel yawned. "And there were those guys on that bench tonight."

"What guys?"

"Oh, come on. Give me a break, Jack. I saw you staring at them." 

Oy. They were getting close to Twilight Zone again. Jack was about to tell Daniel to go to sleep. But it seemed there was just no escape from it. 

Daniel looked at him and Jack wished he could see his eyes. It was too damn dark to have a decent talk about... stuff. But he guessed he wouldn’t feel any better if he turned the light back on. So he just cleared his throat and bit the bullet. "I saw them, all right. Of course I did. But I don't want you to think I'm going through a crisis here just because I don't get any. We’ve been through this. Those guys just made me think of something, though."

He stopped, searching for words. This was really hard. And here he was nagging at the kid not to hold back with his emotions. But they had had such a great day and Jack didn't want to make Daniel sad or upset him again. Yet, he owed him an answer. "We never could... do something like that. We never did vacations anywhere else than at the cabin and we were never... able to just hang out in public like those guys. Aw, crap, Daniel... don't... "

There was a sniffle coming from the little guy. Jack squeezed his shoulder and tried to figure out how to fix this. But he'd known for a long time he couldn't fix anything here. And Daniel knew it, too. They were stuck like this. He felt Daniel take a very deep breath and relax a little. Jack didn't want to hurt him. Didn't want to open barely closed wounds. But he needed to say something, anything. 

"We could never show what we felt... what we were... to others. Carter and T knew. Janet knew. But we couldn't come out of the closet. That was my fault. And now it's too late."

Daniel turned around and looked at Jack. "Not your fault," he said. 

"Yeah. It was. I was the one who needed to protect his damn career. Those guys didn't care about getting caught. It sure as hell is forbidden to be gay in Egypt. I never had the guts to come out. And now we'll never be able to do it properly."

"Jack! Jack, stop," Daniel crooned, his light voice surprisingly calm. "I never wanted you to come out. There was so much at stake. Not only a career. You are important for the program. We were important. We couldn't risk being caught. We both made the decision to keep it a secret... It's okay. We would never have come out. And if we could start it all over again, we wouldn't either. Not with the life and jobs we have."

"No. Maybe not," Jack had to admit. "But it's not fair. The whole damn Don't Ask Don't Tell thing just sucks. Good guys get busted or beaten up just because they are into the wrong gender. How sick is this?"

Daniel nodded. "Yet, you chose to stay in the military. Even after you found out you are into guys, right?"

"I was..." Jack bit his lip and shook his head. 

"You never told me why you joined the Air Force in the first place," Daniel said.

"I thought it was cool to fly jets."

"Yeah. Right."

Jack let his fingers absently stroke through Daniel's hair. "Go to sleep, Danny."

"Jack?"

"It was a long time ago. I joined because I didn't know what else to do. I had the grades and my dad thought it was a cool thing to join. And yeah... I liked the idea of flying jets." 

For a while, Daniel didn't say anything. Then he asked out of the blue, "Jack, do you miss going out? I mean... doing guy stuff?" When Jack didn't answer right away, he continued, "You haven't been out the whole time... not once. I mean alone."

Jack rubbed his face. Daniel's ability to go from one tricky subject to the other was really exhausting at times. "It's okay," he said after a moment. "You miss those things too, right?"

Daniel shrugged like he wasn't so sure about that. "I have no choice. You have. Sam could come over. Or I could stay on base."

"Wouldn't be fair to have all the fun without you." 

"It's not your fault kids aren't allowed in bars or watch adult Jell-o wrestling."

"Not your fault either," Jack pointed out.

"You could go out with Teal'c. He loves Jell-o wrestling. Sam and I can have fun together, too. I can tell her what a terrible parent you are while she can tell me you are an even worse commander. Then we can figure out which is worse. Being your kid or being your 2IC," Daniel said.

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah. Sure. Sam and I are good. In fact, she's great. She never tells me to stop babbling or not to eat chocolate before lunch. And she doesn't mind that I'm a little messy. She's much less paternal than you are."

"She spoils you rotten," Jack snorted.

"Oh, yeah."

Daniel and Sam had spent more time together over the last months after the incident with Ree s e. Sometimes Jack had dropped the Wretch off at her place when he had to run errands. Sam and Teal'c had even stayed with him at home overnight once because Jack had been ordered to Washington for two days. It had been awkward for all of them at first and Jack had to force himself not to call every hour to make sure they were all right at home. But when he’d come back, everything had been peachy and if Daniel was okay with him hanging out with Teal'c from time to time... 

"I'll think about it," he said. Then he pressed the small body to his and kissed the blond head. "Thanks for the dinner, Danny. I loved it. And the boat trip."

Daniel wriggled his arms out of the tight hug, wrapped them around Jack's neck and squeezed him back with all his strength. "Happy Birthday, Jack," he whispered in O'Neill's ear.

And then he fell asleep.


	3. Egypt III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egypt Part III - in which there's a food fight, some crisis managment and a dubious phone call...

**VII**

"Give me the yo-yo, Danny!"

"No. It's my yo-yo for being such a good little boy."

"Good boy my a...”

“Jack! Language.” Daniel smirked.

“You were gloomy," Jack growled. He tried to snatch the yo-yo out of Daniel's grip as they entered the lobby of their hotel. Daniel let the thing zip up and down The string just unrolled and the yo-yo hung out.

"Come on, you don't even want it. Be a nice guy," Jack whined.

Daniel rolled his eyes and handed the yo-yo over to Jack, slapping it in his outstretched hand. "This is childish anyway."

"Yeah. It is... now look at THIS, Space Monkey." Jack stopped in the middle of the wide lobby to let the yo-yo zip up and down. Then he let it spin through the air before he tossed it and let it come back to him several times. It definitely wasn't one of those expensive cool yo-yos Charlie used to have. It was a cheap red plastic yo-yo with a smiley face on it. The string was a  bit short, but would do. 

Jack had snatched it out of the basket with kids’ toys they had at the hospital. Daniel's final ear examination had been this morning and the doc had allowed the brat to choose a toy. Well, Jack had chosen one while his sullen little charge had rolled his eyes. The ear was fine now, but the doc strongly suggested not to let it get wet for another two days. It was when they had already been back in the car that they realized they forgot to ask for smaller earplugs. But Daniel said he'd live without washing his hair for another day or two, so they had let it go and went back to the hotel. 

Jack let the yo-yo spin with  increasing speed. 

Daniel followed the toy with his eyes and a smile crept into his face. A group of European teenagers approached them, stopping a couple of feet away to watch. Jack let the yo-yo climb over his shoulder and roll around his neck. Hey, he was a natural after all. He hadn't done this in a while, but he used to be real good at it. Unlike the juggling, which he still did from time to time, he hadn't played much with a yo-yo in years. Not like this anyway. 

When he let the string roll up and put the toy into the pocket of his jeans, the teens applauded and cheered. He gave a small bow, then turned to Daniel. "What do you think about lunch, kiddo? Let's tackle the restaurant. We have to celebrate your victory over the ear bug."

He could hear Daniel's stomach grumble in agreement. 

The place was fantastic. As soon as the kid  hadn 't fel t ill anymore, they'd started to have their meals here. The buffet left no culinary dream unfulfilled. It was huge. 

When they entered the restaurant it was still early and the room wasn't very crowded. It looked elegant with the wide buffet table in the middle. The chairs were covered in white plaid and the tableclot h was white, too. 

Well, Jack was glad his kid had good eating manners – mostly. He wouldn't want to hit this place with a toddler or a messy  eater . They waited for the waiter who was going to show them to their table.

"Do you think I could just eat my way through the desert buffet? " Daniel whispered. "I had a good breakfast this morning."

"Why not? Go for it. But have some fruit too, okay?"

Daniel nodded.

Normally Jack would play the "eat some real food and then you can have dessert" game. He knew Daniel was annoyed about that, but Jack couldn't help it. He had tried to coax Daniel to eat more and regularly when he had been big. Now he had a little more success with it. But this was vacation. And they didn't know how long they were able to stay with the NID or whoever breathing down their necks. So there was just no point in arguing about what was considered healthy food right now. And the dessert part of the buffet was really cool. They had all sorts of sweets. It must be like a dream come true for Daniel.

Jack liked the cake, too, by the way.

They were guided to a table near the buffet by a friendly looking waiter. There were still three empty chairs when they sat down. Daniel thanked the man who bowed his head and smiled at him. Then they ordered orange juice for Daniel and water for Jack, since it was too early for beer. 

Once their drinks were served they hit the buffet. Daniel went straight to the dessert area where he loaded his plate with chocolate mousse, a Mango cup dessert with whipped cream and some pieces of baklava. In his other hand he balanced a bowl with fruit salad.

Jack settled for something called Egyptian omelet with onions and some kind of sandwich with feta cheese and tomatoes. Then he made a detour to the grill and added some baked beef to his plate. 

When they returned to their table, Daniel stopped so abruptly that Jack almost ran into him. He managed to avoid slapping his food into the kid's neck. Barely. “Will you pay attention?” he snapped. 

But Daniel wasn't listening to him. He stared at their table and the new occupants of the former empty chairs. 

"What?" Jack balanced his plate.

"There's the little brat..."

"What?"

"From the museum," Daniel hissed. "At our table. With her foster parents. They just came back from the buffet, too."

Jack wondered if it would be considered rude to grab their drinks, mumble an apology and find another table. 

"We can't just leave, can we?" Daniel asked with horror.

"Guess not."

"Oh, great."

"Behave yourself," Jack warned out of the corner of his mouth when they walked towards the table.

"Or - what?" Daniel hissed back, raising his eyebrows over the rim of his glasses.

"Or I'll take you to Dream Park - for a whole day." Jack threatened.

Daniel's smug expression changed into one of horror again. "No, you're not."

"They have roller coasters and water rides and, o h, go ** - ** carts,"  Jack said happily. 

Daniel let out a Harrumph. 

Mrs. Walker spotted them first. A smile appeared on her face. "Mr. O'Neill," she said. "What a surprise. Honey, look who's at our table."

They exchanged the usual greeting phrases. At least the real adults did. Daniel sat next to Jack and Anna was across the table from him. They glared at each other without uttering a word. Anna had a variation of food on her plate. But she didn't eat from it. She just sat there, looking gloomy, and sipped her water.

"Aren't you hungry, Anna?" Ruth Walker approached her carefully. Like she was juggling a box of C4.

"I wanted dessert."

"No dessert first. You eat this and you can have dessert," Hank explained.

"I don't want THIS."

Jack and Daniel exchanged a look. Then they started eat ing with great appetite, ignoring the hassle going on around them. Jack  was grateful it wasn't him and Daniel arguing for a change. The dialogue, however, was suspiciously familiar.

"He has dessert," Anna sniped.

Mr. Walker prompted, "How other people raise their k ids is none of o ur business.”

“Well, I'm not your kid, so stop patronizing me.”

Jack downed a great part of his water. Daniel coughed next to him. 

Ruth's smile became a little forced. “Anna, honey, please.”

“Just leave me alone.” 

Jack felt sorry for the poor woman. She was obviously trying to make things right and ran against a solid wall of resistance while her husband tried to be strict. They both seemed to be very tense. He remembered how tense he had been the first few months. Heck, he still was on the edge from time to time. 

"Hey, Anna," he tried. "Where do you come from?"

“My name isn't Anna. It's Annakpok. It means free one. I'm from Cape Dorset. It's a community on Dorset Island, just off the coast of the Foxe Peninsula in the south west corner of Baffin Island," she explained with pride in her voice.

"That's close to Canada," Jack knew.

"Canadian Arctic islands," Anna nodded. "To us it is Nunavut."

"Must be cold."

"Yes, it is. But also very beautiful."

Jack eyed the food on her plate. "You play hockey? I mean with all that ice around you?" 

"I did. We all did. I think I could skate before I could walk," she smiled.

"I'm from Minnesota. I was three when I got my first skates. Try those little meatball things... and, hey... is that pita bread? Great stuff. I had that yesterday."

She started to pick at her food and while they went into a discussion about hockey she was eating a little, which made poor Ruth smile in relief. 

Eventually, Anna got up to get herself dessert. When she had left the table, Ruth told Jack that Anna's mom had been a very close friend of hers. They had met in College in Vancouver and the connection remained strong, even after her friend moved back to Cape Dorset. Ruth was Anna's godmother and after her parents’ death they took the girl in. 

"It's been six months now. This was our first big trip together. Hank is a diplomat and he had work to do at the Egyptian Embassy here in Cairo. Anna is home schooled so we aren't dependent on school terms. So far it's a disaster. And when we get back we have to move from Boston to Pueblo, Colorado."

"We're from Colorado, too," Jack said.

"Really? How nice!"

A few minutes later, things were much more relaxed and even Hank didn't look so stressed anymore.

Jack decided he could handle some more food. 

***

When Jack grabbed his plate and left the table, Daniel almost called him back. He didn't want to sit here, alone with the Walkers. He wasn't comfortable. Normally he had no problem talking to people. But ever since he'd been turned back into a child, adults tended to talk to him like he was a... well, a child. And Daniel never liked it. But running after Jack like a baby wasn't a good idea either. So he just sat there and pretended to concentrate on his food.

"How old are you, dear?" Ruth Walker asked.

Daniel almost choked on his baklava. "Eight."

It hadn't bothered him when the ladies on the felucca had asked him things. But that had been different, even though Daniel couldn't really tell why. He had liked the three "fairies" from the beginning. Maybe it was because they had been old. Old ladies treated everyone like kids. They had even called Jack "son". The Walkers might be nice, too. He just didn't want to be questioned by them. The woman wasn't much older than he used to be. It was awkward. 

Ruth smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, I thought you were younger. Anna is ten. Do you like it in Cairo, Daniel?"

"I thought her name was Annakpok," Daniel mumbled. He didn't even know what he was trying to do here. Why did he care how they called the girl? But he didn't like it when people called him Danny. So he knew where she was coming from.

"It is. Anna is just easier," Hank chimed in.

"But if she doesn't like to be called Anna, you shouldn't do it," Daniel insisted. 

There was an uneasy silence for a moment, before Hank asked, "What grade are you, Daniel?" 

What grade? Oh. "Um... I'm home schooled, too.” He felt hot under his collar. He didn't want to explain to the Walkers about his home schooling. He knew his cover story by heart, he had practiced it a lot. But it was always awkward to actually use it. He tried to avoid that.

"What are you going to be when you're big?" Ruth asked cheerfully.

What was this? Twenty guesses? "An Archaeologist," he said before he could think of something less interesting. Something boring enough to not bring up more questions. What did kids usually answer to that question? Astronaut? Fire fighter? Doctor?

"Oh, how cute! You like digging, do you?"

"I like history."

This was so unreal. Daniel felt like when he had been nine and sitting in the living room of foster parents number three, four, five... his old suitcase on his knees, trying to avoid the pitiful or curious - sometimes careless - looks those new people  had given him. The questioning had started and he had answered most of them with a couple of statements he'd worked out over time. 

Of course this wasn't anything like it. They were just trying to be nice. And he had to be nice in return. Yet, it reminded him of that time and he didn't like reminders like that. Didn't like to be questioned like that. It probably was because they were foster parents, too. 

Where was Jack? Why didn't he come back? 

Daniel squirmed in his seat, feeling the Walkers stare at him.

God, he had been a linguist. A diplomat. Where were the words when he needed them? Why was he so stuck in the middle of this? Why couldn't he use his best skill to get out of it? He felt somewhat like that one time when they had been at the park and that kid had bullied him. He knew he COULD handle situations like this. But right now it was as if his adult mind had flown out of the window. 

Where was Jack?

Daniel craned his neck to find Jack between all the people gathering around the big buffet table. The restaurant had filled by now. There he could see Jack's lean tall figure in the dark blue sweater. He stood in the row for the grilled meat. And Anna, or Annakpok, was with him. They were smiling at each other and talking.

Daniel took a big gulp of juice. His throat went suddenly dry. He tried to ignore the queasy feeling in his stomach.

"Do you play any sports?" Hank wanted to know.

"No." Why did everyo ne  think boys his age had to play sports?

“Ah, I thought you might be into hockey, too, like your dad,” Hank said. “I hope Anna will have fun playing again once she's settled in.”

Yeah, great. Who wanted to know that? Oh, right, Jack wanted to know that. Jack loved hockey. He had tried to get Daniel to go skating with him once. But Daniel didn't do hockey. Not that he had ever tried. He just knew he wouldn't like it. Period.

"Anna likes history, too. She is reading a lot,” Ruth said. “Maybe the two of you could spend some time together at the pool tomorrow.” 

"We are leaving in four days. And we have lots of plans," Daniel mumbled. The last thing he needed was spending more time with that awful kid, thank you very much.

"Oh, that's too bad," Ruth sighed. Then she picked up her napkin and to Daniel' s horror bent over the table and wiped his left cheek with it. Smiling down at him, she said, "You had chocolate mousse there, sweetie."

This was it. He'd get Jack and leave. Now. 

Then Anna returned, followed by Jack. Her plate was as overloaded with sweets as Daniel's had been. Jack pulled her chair from the table with a gallant smile, so she could sit down without letting go of her plate.

Anna said very politely, "Thank you, Mr. O'Neill." 

"Call me Jack."

"Okay, Jack," she smiled up at him.

Daniel resisted the urge to throw up. At the same time he felt bad for disliking Anna so much. They seemed to have a few things in common. But she was so annoying.

"You speak Egyptian," she suddenly addressed him.

"Yes."

"But you don't speak Inuit." There was a little satisfied smile on Anna's face now.

"No."

"Well, that's too bad. You'll never know what I called you yesterday."

"And who cares? You don't know what I called you in Egyptian either," Daniel hissed.

"Ah, and you'll get into trouble if you tell me, I bet," she chirped, eating more of her mango cup.

"Maybe I just like to keep it a secret."

"Coward."

"Maniac."

Jack nudged him with his elbow.

Mrs. Walker patted Anna's arm.

A moment later the adults were back to a discussion about the advantages of living in Colorado and baseball. Daniel sighed and started eat ing smore  more of his chocolate mousse. He didn't want to let that kid ruin his day. 

Except it was already ruined. Jack was making small talk with the Walkers, ignoring him completely. Was he supposed to talk to Anna? No way. Just because her parents were dead, too, didn't mean they had to be best friends. 

Then again... He knew how she felt, being thrown into a situation where she couldn't get out? She had lost her family. Lost the warm safe place kids needed. Everybody needed. Daniel glanced at Jack. Jack was his warm safe place now. And Anna didn't have anything like that. The Walkers were still strangers. Even after six months it had to feel like that to her. You couldn't just trade one family for another. Daniel knew that. He had been there, done that. 

He felt sorry for her. Almost. 

Still, he was anxious and angry. And somehow hurt. He didn't like her. Didn't want to feel sympathy for her. She was awful. And maybe, just maybe, he felt a little bit ashamed because he was well aware he sometimes behaved just like her. Used to behave like her a whole lot. It wasn't nice to look into that mirror. Not nice at all. 

"Your dad's nice," Anna said out of the blue.

"He's not. My dad, I mean," Daniel replied absently without looking up.

"Oh? Where are your parents?"

"Dead."

There was silence. And the silence grew so long that Daniel finally looked up. Anna sat there and stared at him, her eyes even smaller than they had been before. 

"What?" he asked puzzled.

"You think this is funny?" She hissed back at him. "You think having dead parents is something to joke about? Is that so?"

Daniel's hand holding the spoon stopped moving in mid air as he stared at her and gaped. What was she talking about? "Hey! I didn't say anything..."

"Ne joue pas avec moi!"

"What do you mean; don't mess with me? I didn't."

She kicked his shin under the table. Daniel winced and the choc olate mousse that  had been on his spoon landed on his shirt. 

"Stop it," he hissed. He took his napkin and wiped at the dark smeary splotch, but all he managed was to rub it in and make it look even worse. 

"Sleazeball," Anna mouthed, when Ruth looked puzzled at them.

"Why don't you kids go out and play for a while," she asked, smiling. "You can go to the playground by the pool."

That got Jack's attention. He stopped droning on about baseball games with Hank for a minute and remembered Daniel was there, too. They looked at each other. "You've got chocolate mousse on your shirt,” Jack said.

“No, really?” Daniel sneered. “I'm not going to the playground with her.”

"Neither am I," Anna agreed. She looked at Daniel as though he was a disgusting bug. 

"You could discuss ancient Egypt," Jack joked.

_Har har. Very funny._ "I don't think so," Daniel snorted, then addressed his friend, “When you're finished discussing baseball to death, I'd like to go please. I need my early bedtime."

Jack frowned at him. "What?"

"I'm tired."

"Give me a minute. I'd like to finish my food first."

With that he turned back to Hank Walker, who seemed to be pleased that his foster daughter wasn't the only brat at the table. 

Anna sneered at him. 

Daniel kicked her back with gusto.

Which turned out to be a big mistake. 

With a furious glee in her eyes, she grabbed the salt shaker, turned off the cap and poured salt into his orange juice.

"Are you nuts?" he yelled at her.

She just shrugged and continued eating.

Jack stopped talking to Hank and turned around to give Daniel a warning look. Oh great. Now he was the bad guy here? This was like a bad movie. No. It was worse than a bad movie. 

"Jaaack, she..." 

"Daniel, stop it."

"But..."

"Stop it NOW." With that, Jack turned back to Mr. Walker and continued talking.

Daniel sat there, dumbfounded. "Jack, would you please listen to me," he tried, hearing the whine in his voice. Oh, how he hated that. He didn't want to sound whiny. Or cranky. He needed Jack to get him out of here. 

"Give it a rest, Daniel. We'll go when I finished eating," Jack said impatiently without even looking at him. Hank was telling an oh-so-interesting story about some stupid baseball team they both seemed to like. 

Daniel hated baseball, he always had. 

"What are you going to do tomorrow?" Ruth tried to rescue the conversation. Her smile was really strained now.

Daniel heard Jack say, "Oh, we'll go to Dream Park."

Yeah. Right. Over his dead body. Daniel started to torture his chocolate mousse w ith his spoon. 

Anna leaned across the table towards Jack. "Wow. It’s a cool place. I saw the brochure. They have all kinds of rides and there's a roller coaster in a tunnel system. It's dark around you while you go through loops. This sounds like real fun!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. This sounded even more like throwing up to him. 

"Would you love to go there, honey?" Ruth asked, obviously happy she had found something that would cheer the girl up.

"Sure," Anna said.

Daniel gaped at Jack. He wasn't really  going to  forc e him to visit a theme park for kids? And surely not with these awful people? He wouldn't tell them to come along? He wouldn't...

Jack opened his mouth to say something.

They needed to get out of here. Now. Before Jack did something stupid. Desperate situations needed desperate measures. 

Without giving it a second thought, Daniel snatched the ketchup bottle, aimed for Anna's plate and a moment later, her lemon pie was drowned in ketchup. 

So was her shirt. Which was really just an accident.

Everybody at the table froze.

Then the Inuit girl jumped up, picked the large piece of lemon pie from her plate and slammed it over Daniel's head. And before anybody could react, she smacked the cup of mango cream at his chest, where it slowly dripped into his lap. The lemon pie slid in thick splotches  down his head on his glasses and shoulders. 

He blinked and ripped off his smeary glasses before he grabbed his glass of salty orange juice, got up and poured it out over her. 

"I couldn't drink that anyway now," he said politely.

The whole restaurant just froze. Everyone was staring at them. From somewhere he heard fast footsteps as an upset waiter rushed in to see what had happened. 

When Anna started  giggling it got everyone out of their  stupor .

The adults jumped up, tissues and napkins were ripped out. Ruth wip ed at Anna's  shirt , while Daniel used his napkin to clean his head with little success. Hank looked stressed. Everybody started apologiz ing . Jack picked up Anna's plate which had somehow ended on the floor. The waiter came running with fresh tablecloth and towels for Anna and Daniel. Anna was soaked in juice, her ketch-up reddened shirt sticking to her body. Daniel had the better part of her dessert all over him.

And Anna  was laughing. 

He stared at the insane girl for a moment, before he cracked up, too. They looked at each other, having fits of giggles, while the dishes were put away and the tablecloth was changed in a rush. Other guests started comment ing about rotten spoiled children and there was a lot of head shaking and offended mumbling all over the room. 

Jack fell back on his chair and slapped his hands over his face.

Daniel gave up the attempt to clean himself. "God, I'm sorry," he grinned, feeling like a fool.

"Yeah, me too," Anna giggled.

Ruth and Hank talked to the waiter and tried to apologize for the whole mess. Daniel's eyes wandered over to where Jack was sitting, his face still covered by his hands. There was a strangled sound coming from him and Daniel wasn't exactly sure what to make of it. 

"This is so embarrassing," Ruth Walker said, almost in tears. 

"Let's go," Hank ordered, his face white like a ghost. He took hold of Anna's elbow and propelled her through the crowded room towards the exit. His wife followed, her face a dark shade of red. 

"Sorry," Daniel mumbled after them. 

A moment later, he felt himself marched out of the restaurant, too, Jack's hand having a tight grip on the collar of his shirt. The feeling of hilariousness was gone. Daniel felt a lump in his throat as he was trying to figure out if he was mad or sorry. Or both. 

**VIII**

The walk to their rooms was awkward. Neither of them said a word. In the elevator, Jack leaned against the wall of the cabin, crossed his arms over his chest and gazed up at the ceiling while Daniel gazed down at his chucks and the floor.

He  c ould  _not_ look at Daniel.

Jack tried to ignore the sweet smell of pie and mango cream coming from the Wretch.

He bit his tongue.

It wasn't funny.

Nope.

Not funny.

Oh. God. 

Daniel was SO i n trouble. What the hell had gotten into him? Starting a food fight in a crowded restaurant. Aiming a ketchup bottle at that girl...

She might have deserved that, though. She seemed to give Daniel a hard time. Jack didn't get all of it, but he was sure the kid didn't just think squirting ketchup at her was a funny thing to do. That wasn't like him. Then again, the brat had been rude and a bit over the top in his dislike of the girl from the get go. 

The elevator stopped and they walked down the empty white tiled hallway towards their rooms. Daniel with his lemon pie head and the yellow and white slobber all over his shirt. There were lemon cream spots on his cheeks, too. 

Jack wanted to bang his head against the wall to stop himself from thinking screaming with laughter would be a good idea right now. It had been awful, oh yeah. But somehow it had also been pure slapstick. 

When Daniel fingered out his own key, Jack almost let him go for now. As long as Daniel was in his own room, Jack could take his time laughing his ass off until he was able to handle this like an adult. 

He needed to think about consequences for this... He was angry. VERY angry. Angry beyond... 

He felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

Nope.

Not going to happen.

It wasn't funny. It had been embarrassing and every single person in that restaurant had thought so, too. He needed to focus on that. That poor woman, Ruth, almost got a heart attack over it.

Making a decision, he grabbed the kid’s shirt collar and pulled him through the door into his room. No way was his little monster getting away that easily.

Daniel, however, seemed to have a mood switch. He had gone from being amused and then mortified about the whole thing into fighting mode. He jerked out of Jack's grip the second the door had closed behind them, yelling, "HEY! I need to take a bath! And no, I don't want to talk about it!"

"Whoa! Wait a minute,  Wretch !"

"What?! You want to take a picture of me like this?" 

Thinking about it, that seemed like a great idea. He would have so much fun showing this to Carter and Teal'c. 

"Don't even think about it!"

Or maybe not.

Jack forced himself to school his face into an angry and stern expression when he felt the grin creep up again. "What the hell were you thinking?" 

"Why  _the hell_ should I tell you?" Daniel snapped back. 

Oh, Jack knew that tone well. And it helped to finally get over the insane urge to laugh. It might have been funny. But in his book, Danny-boy was in no position to throw a fit. 

"I can do the talking for a while. Because I have a lot to say about that stunt you just pulled!" 

"Forget it. You didn't want to talk or listen to me downstairs. Now I don't want to talk or listen to you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Take a guess." Daniel slumped on a chair, crossed his arms over his chest and gave him a deadly glare, which didn't work of course. A gloomy looking kid covered in pie and mango was cute - not scary. 

Jack rolled his eyes and tipped at his watch. "Do we have to do the time out thing here?" 

"I don't do time outs anymore!"

"Oh? Since when?"

"Since NOW."

Oy.

Houston, we have a problem.

O'Neill considered his options.

So far Daniel had never really refused to go into time out. Jack knew he had a hard time to comply. But he did. It was like Teal'c had said. Deep inside Daniel knew when he had gone too far and needed time to think.

Why was he so petulant now? He sure as hell knew he had crossed more than one line with that food fight. There was no need to explain to him that throwing food - no matter where or when - wasn't an option. Period.

So something else was up.

The bad thing was that Daniel wouldn't tell him anything; especially considering the state he was in right now. So a time out was in order, no matter if Daniel liked it or not.

"Well, you're already sitting there, so you can sit there for a while longer," O'Neill said with a shrug.

Wrong.

Daniel bolted from the chair and towards the door, pulling his key from his jeans. "I'm not sitting in the chair," he informed Jack. "I'm going to my own room. And there I’ll stay. I don't want you to come after me!"

But he wasn't really leaving. He stopped  at the door, his small hand on the handle.

Jack sensed Daniel's inner fight and wasn't sure what to do. Maybe letting him go was for the best right now. That way the kid could take his time to calm down and come back later. Jack knew from experience there was no way he would be able to have a calm talk with Daniel now. For what reason ever - the kid was outraged. 

Yet, he didn't feel comfortable just leaving him all alone in his room when he was like this. And if Daniel really wanted to be left alone he would have stormed out the door already. But he seemed to be frozen in place for some reason.

Jack made a choice. He sat on the chair Daniel had just left. "Come back here."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I want to talk to you before you go."

The boy turned and stared at him. Jack could tell something had gone terribly wrong. This wasn't about the food fight or Anna. This was something else. Daniel looked hurt. Mad and furious, sure. But hurt, too.

Very reluctantly he came over and stopped a few feet away from Jack, jamming his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Jack took in the lemon pie, the tousled hair, the yellow splotches on the shirt, the spots on his cheeks and the left side of his glasses. Together with the pouting lips and the narrowed eyes, he looked unbelievable adorable and vulnerable.

"What?"

"Two things. First, I’ll let you go and sulk. Anna was a prick, you're mad - okay. I got that loud and clear. So if you really want to be alone right now - fine. But we will talk about this later. And we're going to clean you up before you leave."

Daniel blinked. His lower lip was sucked in and Jack could see the wheels turning in the little head. He pushed his glasses up his nose with his left hand. When he had done that, the mango spot on the glass had turned into a splotchy fingerprint. "What's the other thing?"

"Whatever made you so mad - and I'm sure you have a good reason to be angry - we'll sort it out," Jack said. "But let me tell you this right away. You won't get away with throwing food. No matter what the reason."

"I didn't throw food," Daniel pointed out grimly.

"Shooting ketchup across the table and pouring juice over somebody falls under throwing food in my book. And guys who do food fights in restaurants are going to apologize and pay for the damage. You're grounded for the rest of the day, too."

Daniel stood there and considered all of this for about a minute. 

Jack tried not to lose the stern face, when the Wretch scratched his filthy head and absently plucked at his dirty shirt. 

"I don't want to go," he finally said, sounding still angry.

"I'm not sending you away."

"I don't want to talk either. I don't want to do time out."

Jack rose from the chair. "Let's clean you up."

"I can do that myself," Daniel groused. "The doc said it's healed..."

"No water in the ear." 

"You are not going to wash my hair."

Jack placed his hands on Daniel shoulders and steered him in the direction of the bathro om. "Daniel, I'm not discussing this. Move it," he ordered, raising his voice just enough to indicate a warning.

He’d carry him into the bathroom and place him into the tub with his clothes on if necessary. And Daniel knew it. 

Reluctantly, the kid peeled himself out of the ruined shirt and the rest of his clothes. Jack grabbed them and tossed them into the sink. He'd have to rinse them at least if he didn't want to deal with encrusted pie and mango pulp at home. No, Daniel was going to rinse them. Later. 

He took the smeary glasses from Daniel and sat them on the small board over the sink. 

Distracted by trying to figure out a way to wash Daniel's hair without getting water into his ear, the Wretch stopped sulking for the moment. First Jack told him to press a small towel to the side of his head, but as soon as he began to wet Daniel's hair carefully with the shower, the towel got soaked. Daniel suggested using a bowl and pour water over his hair, while he was holding a dry towel to his ear. 

"Tip your head back," Jack ordered when he'd finally decided to use an empty water bottle.

He filled the bottle with warm water from the tap and then carefully poured it out over the kid’s head. Daniel, who was sitting in the tub now, didn't look happy. "I'm getting it into my eyes," he complained.

"Close them."

"It's yucky."

"It's just water." 

Two bottles later, the kid's head was wet enough and the towel still mostly dry. Jack grabbed the shampoo and started to apply a little amount to Daniel's hair.

"So," he started casually as he watched his hands getting foamy "Care to share what that was all about?"

Daniel glared up at Jack through narrowed eyes. Shampoo was slowly dripping down his forehead and the kid wiped it away with his free hand. "She provoked me - and she didn't believe me when I told her about my parents."

"So what? You didn't believe her either at the museum."

"I know." Daniel cringed, sounding a little sheepish for the first time. Then he pouted. "But she called me a..."

"You called her a couple nasty things, too, as far as I know," Jack reminded him.

Daniel refused to use baby or kid's shampoo so his head smelled like  _American crew citrus mint_ . It wasn't the same shampoo he'd used when he had been big. But there was no "no tear Shampoo" in their bathroom. 

Jack went to the sink to refill the water bottle. "Listen. I know this whole mess wasn't just your fault. But you are the one who keeps telling me you're not a kid - shouldn't you know better than to let her get to you like that?" 

"I am supposed to let her pour salt into my drink?"

"She put salt into your juice?"

"Because I kicked her."

"And you kicked her - why exactly?"

The bottle was filled again and Daniel squeezed his eyes shut once more. "Because she kicked me first... ewww... it burns my eyes..."

"You don't want to use kid's shampoo, you suffer. Ah. And there was no other way to handle this without kicking... don't move your head!"

"Are you kidding me? Ow... stop pulling at my hair!"

"I said don't move your head. The whole mess is splashing on the towel!" Jack reached out and snatched another towel from the rail, while he was still holding the bottle in his other hand. Daniel threw the wet towel away and grabbed the new one.

By the time they were ready to rinse some more, Jack's jeans were wet. So was his shirt. 

"Be careful," the Wretch muttered when Jack poured more water over the lathery hair.

"You know, somehow I thought you of all people understood why she's acting a little weird. She just lost her parents, left the country she had lived in, needs to adapt to a whole new life," Jack said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. 

“I told you, I don't want to talk about it! And you're going to make me apologize already. What else do you want? I don't have to like her just because we share the same experiences. Or do you like her so much that you want to adopt her, too? Maybe the Walkers will be happy to get rid of her," Daniel snarled.

Taken aback by the outrage in the young voice, Jack asked, "Why are you so vicious, Daniel? That's not like you."

There was still shampoo in the kid’s hair. Sighing, Jack went to fill the bottle one last time, while Daniel sat there, pouting and looking like he was torn between feeling miserable and mad. 

"It's clean enough," he suddenly decided. He got to his feet and started to climb out of the tub. He had one leg in and one out of it when Jack got hold of his arm. 

"We're not finished."

"I am finished," Daniel yelled, swatting O'Neill's hand with the bottle away. The warm water spilled over the used towels on the floor and Jack's feet.

"Get back in there!"

"No!" 

"Daniel, so help me... " 

"Let me go!"

Jack wanted his own temper tantrum. He wished he could whine and yell and rant like Daniel. But he hadn't the excuse of being a kid. So he tried counting to ten inwardly, instead.

He got to five when Daniel yanked his arm out of his grip and he had to let go. The kid was slippery like a fish, wet and lathery as he was. 

Daniel tossed his towel on the floor and tried swinging his other leg out of the tub. That was when he slipped on the wet ground. He skidded with the foot inside the tub as he tried to keep his balance. For a split second, O'Neill saw Daniel's head hitting the edge of the tub... and suddenly he was thrown back into the infirmary with an unresponsive brain dead Daniel lying in intensive care after Reese had attacked him... His heart skipped a beat before he grabbed the swaying body under his armpits, lifted him out and placed him ruggedly on his feet.

“Will you stop making such a fuss! You could've cracked your head," he yelled.

"Thanks for saving my life, then," Daniel yelled back.

"You are SO doing time out now, Doctor Jackson!"

"Go to hell, Jack!"

Jack spun him around and raised his hand. 

For a moment they seemed to be frozen in place like two grotesque statues. Then Daniel jerked his head around to stare back at Jack over his shoulder, eyes wide as saucers. He didn't flinch or duck away, but he was holding his breath. 

Somehow, and he probably had to thank years and years of honed reflexes for that, Jack managed to force his hand to change course and, instead of smacking Daniel's bare butt, he ripped the last dry towel from the rail next to him.

He took a deep breath. 

In.

Out.

Daniel just stood there and looked at him. Jack had to do something. So he started to roughly towel him off. The little bug didn't fight him. He just let him do it. When he was finished with the towel, Jack wrapped him into it, then dragged him to the toilet and made him sit down. 

“Ten minutes,” he snapped. “Don't move. I don't want to hear a single word.”

He left Daniel to his thoughts and stepped out on the balcony, taking several calming deep breaths. He wanted to call Svenson and ask her how the hell she expected him to keep his cool in a situation like this? Shaking his head, Jack stared out at Cairo's skyline. 

Well, at least he had managed not to give in to the urge of tanning the brat's hide. He tried to focus on Svenson's mantra about staying in control of himself and the situation. About not letting h is or Daniel's anger dictate his actions. About staying calm. But hell, he needed the ten minutes time out just as much as Daniel. It still was complicated more often than not whenever they ended up in the sparring ring. 

Jack felt his blood pressure go down as the minutes ticked off. He kept an eye on his watch and when the time was up, he returned to the bathroom. Daniel hadn't moved from the toilet seat. He looked up briefly when Jack entered, then lowered his head. 

“Have you calmed down?” Jack leaned against the door jamb, eying the tyke. 

“Guess so.”

“Good. Me too.” He approached the kid then, crouching in front of him to be on eye level with Daniel, ignoring his protesting knees. "Talk to me."

"I'm sorry." Daniel blurted out, his voice shaky with emotions. "But I was mad at you." 

***

Daniel felt sorry for the Walkers and Jack about the disaster they had created at the restaurant. He felt sorry for Anna because her parents had died. And he cringed at the thought  of how good it had felt to kick her and pour the juice out over her. Not to mention the ketchup all over her shirt. He was ashamed of what he had done to her, even though she was a brat and annoying. He didn't like her very much. Yet, he had behaved like an idiot. Had let her lure him into this stupid fight while the real reason for his anger had been Jack. 

It had taken him a while to figure that out, too. 

There was an ache inside him, he knew from before. When he had been big he had felt this way occasionally. He was embarrassed, too. Because he knew there was no reason for him to feel this way. He felt his throat working to suppress the rising sobs. He wasn't going to cry. 

Jack patted his knee. "Daniel? Talking. Now."

When Daniel was sure his voice would be steady he said, "You had no idea what was going on! You usually have eyes in the back of your head, but you were so busy talking about baseball you forgot I was there! And how great that little Anna plays hockey! I bet she'd love to go skating with you! She thinks you are nice! And... and I know how this sounds... But... but... I felt..." The words came out in a rush. And as soon as they were out, Daniel wished he could take them all back. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks. He didn't want Jack to know that he was... 

"You're jealous?" Jack sounded surprised like this was the last thing he’d expected. But then he nodded. “I think I get it now.”

But it wasn't just that. Daniel drew a deep breath and forced himself to continue. "And then when she kicked me and I wanted to leave, you just ignored me. You... wanted to talk to Hank and you didn't care how I felt, sitting there with that brat... You treated me like a kid. You wanted me to shut up and be nice."

Daniel stared at his hands and knees peeking out from the big towel he was wrapped in. 

"I did, didn't I," Jack sighed finally.

"And when you went for new food, the Walkers asked me all sorts of idiotic questions. About my age and school and what I'd like to be when I'm grown up. And she... she wiped her napkin all over my face because I had chocolate spots on my cheek." 

"I was just getting something to eat," Jack said in a flat voice. "You seemed to be okay."

"But I wasn't," he whispered. "I don't want people to treat me like that. It was like that doctor in the hospital. I want them to leave me alone. I'm not cute. Or outrageously smart."

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but you are cute. And smart. All of it. You are charming and loveable. Well, when you’re not annoying and bitchy. Or sad and depressed. But even then you’re somehow cute. Even when you're covered in lemon pie. People like you. It was like this when you were big... and now you just..."

He opened his mouth to let out the usual protests, but was cut off short by a wave of Jack's finger. "Ah! Don't start... let me say this, okay? For the rest of the world, you're eight. And as disgusting as it is for you, kids get asked silly questions like how old they are, which grade they're in and what they would like to be when they're grown ups."

"I don't like to be patted and touched by people I don't even know," Daniel muttered, staring down on his knees.

A gentle hand raised his chin. "I agree. And you can tell people – nicely - to back off. You can tell them you don't like to be touched. You have a right to do that. In fact, every kid has the right to do that. But people will treat you like a kid and talk to you like to a kid. You can try to avoid it as much as possible. But you won't always be able to. And I will not always be there to go through it with you. You're a linguist, Daniel. Use your skills. You can do it. You're a diplomat. You're not defenseless. You can talk to people, make them listen."

"I couldn't," Daniel whispered. "It was as though I had lost all my... words. Sometimes it's like I'm falling back into the patterns... like when I was a real kid."

"But it's all there, Danny. Getting mad at people or blaming me won't help you. You're growing up. But it might take some time. Svenson might not agree with me here, but you know... I think you just have to get over it somehow and live with it."

Daniel closed his eyes. And here he had thought he was doing so much better. That everything was easier now.

He suddenly realized how protected he was. Everyone at home respected his need to be treated as grown up as  much as possible. They all tried to make him happy and let him live his life as normally as it could get under these circumstances. It wasn't as if he didn't know that before. He’ d just never thought about it before. If he lived out here - if he had to tackle this new life in a high school or college... or with normal parents... He would never be able to get used to it. 

Maybe he had to get used to it after all.

Jack was right. He would grow up. 

And Daniel realized that he didn't want people to see him like he had seen Anna today. That, on top of all, bugged him. He had always known he had issues. And that he was giving Jack a hard time. But it had never hit home as badly as today. 

“I'm like her,” he groaned. “She's like me. She's angry and lashing out at everyone.”

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah, I guess there's truth in that. But you'll get better. And she will, too. It needs time.”

Daniel hoped that was true. “Can I get up now?” he asked timidly. 

“Yeah. But before you get dressed I want you to rinse your clothes in the sink. Just to get the worst off. We’ll hang them out on the balcony to dry. And you can mop the water off the floor with the towels.”

“Oh, okay.” 

He slipped off the toilet seat and got to work while Jack went back into the room. Daniel made sure the sink and the floor were dry and clean when he was done. Then he slipped into the room, put on his new clothes and took the wet shirt and pants out to hang them over a chair on the balcony. 

"You can kick my butt for ignoring you though. I guess I deserve that," Jack said out of the blue when they were both sitting on the big bed together.

“I don't want you to feel guilty. And I don't want to be pathetic. I don't need your attention all the time.... I know people see the kid in me. I just don't like it. God, listen to me. I sound like a psychotic over-sensitive child. When did I become so needy? I'm already getting therapy. You think I should give in and try that stupid role-play thing, Svenson suggested a couple of times? To figure out how I feel in specific situations and why I feel like it? Isn't that... weird?"

"Sure is. But if it helps... giving it a try wouldn't hurt."

"Ya think?" 

"Listen, Daniel... I couldn't do anything about the Walker's questions. Or the doc in the hospital. They mean well. You just have to learn to cope with that somehow. But I knew you had problems with that kid. I should have listened when you wanted to leave. It was rude and I'm sorry."

Jack handed him the antibiotics and a glass of sparkling water.

"I'm sorry I was so mad. I thought I outgrew the tantrums," Daniel sighed, after he had swallowed the pill.

Jack chuckled. "Daniel, you had tantrums when you were thirty four."

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, you so did. And you pouted. But I think on the whole we are doing better. At least you're not ruining my shirts anymore lately. You pretty much stopped drowning both of us in puddles of tears and snot."

Daniel blinked surprised. "It's true. I didn't even notice that," he mumbled.

"You're going to be okay," Jack said confidently.

"I just had a food fight with a ten year old," Daniel muttered. "I don't know if that's a good thing. Svenson will be thrilled to analyze this."

Jack snorted. "You bet." 

  
  


Two hours later Daniel woke up from a surprisingly refreshing nap. Jack had coaxed him into lying down at least for a while and he must have fallen asleep almost immediately. The TV was running and when he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and picked up his glasses he saw CNN news were on. Jack was next to him on the bed, munching peanuts from the mini bar. 

"Hey," he greeted him without taking his eyes o ff  the TV.

Daniel watched him flipping the little nuts into his mouth for a while, before he asked, "What are we going to do this afternoon?"

“What do you mean 'do'? You're grounded. But I'd actually like to go to the pool and relax for a while. Get one of those cocktails with a pink umbrella stuck in the glass. Seeing as you don't like hanging out at the pool I figure you can join me.”

“Har har.” Daniel was actually grateful. He'd rather be grounded than forced to visit Dream Land or whatever it was called. When he told Jack so, he snorted. “Uh-huh. I called the desk and they gave me the Walker's room number. So we have to pay a little visit later. And you better make it nice and sincere or we WILL go to Dream Land tomorrow."

Daniel was about to answer when there was a knock at the door. Jack frowned and put on his jacket before he went to open. Daniel knew he had his gun in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. He felt his heartbeat go faster. But a moment later, the tension was over, when the Walkers entered the room. 

  
  


Daniel had no idea how it happened. But  not much later he found himself lying on a sun lounge by the pool, next to Anna. Jack had gone swimming, while Hank and Ruth were next to them, reading books. And it didn't even feel awkward. They were sipping non-alcoholic cocktails through straws. The only unpleasant thing was the feel of the sun blocker on his skin. He really hated that stuff. And its smell too.

They had apologized to each other and Daniel had offered to buy Anna a new shirt. But Ruth had waved it off and said that wasn't necessary. 

Anna was wearing a yellow two-piece swimsuit with pink stripes on it. She had braided her long black hair and when she flipped through her own book, Daniel noticed she had dark blue nail polish on her hands and toes.

"Aren't you a bit young for nail polish?" he asked and then blushed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be rude."

But the Inuit girl just shrugged and said: "Ruth says it's okay to find my feminine side attractive and do something about it. Piercings and belly free tops aren't allowed though. You like it?" 

"Um, yeah, I guess." He blushed again and slurped some more from his drink. 

She laughed. Then made a big bubble with her chewing gum. It smelled like strawberry. The bubble got bigger and bigger and then popped with a loud bang. Ruth looked up from her book and shook her head but didn't comment on it.

Daniel grinned. "Were your folks very mad at you?" he asked after a moment.

Anna sighed. "Oh yes. Hank was yelling a lot and Ruth..." She bent closer to Daniel and mumbled, "She cried."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Daniel said, remorseful.

"It's me. I’m giving them a hard time, I guess." Anna shrugged.

"But they seem to be okay. They take you on a trip like this... my foster parents sent me to summer camp if I got lucky." Daniel knew that one could never tell. Foster homes could look nice and the parents might seem to be friendly and all right. And behind closed doors everything was different. But he really hoped everything was okay with these people. And he didn't want to scare the kid with nightmare stories of foster care. 

"Were there many?" Anna asked. 

"Some. You got lucky, you know. You don't have to live in an orphanage. I've been in a few. It's no fun."

"Yuck," Anna groused. Then she sighed. "I miss them. My mom and dad. Ruth and Hank are not like them. Everything is so different now. My whole life just... changed.” 

"I know," Daniel murmured. "Do they treat you okay?"

"Yes, I guess. It's not that I really don't like them. They are just different, they cook differently and they do all sorts of things my mom and dad never did. Like watching Oprah on TV or sending me to bed so early. And I miss my friends and my room," Anna said sadly.

"You'll get used to it. Give them a chance," Daniel told her.

"Do you miss your mom and dad, too?"

Daniel felt his throat getting tight. Again he had to remind himself his parents didn't die a year ago. "Yeah," he answered.

"My parents had a car crash when they were on vacation near Vancouver."

"Uh. Sorry."

"Yours?"

"Accident, too."

Anna looked at him through narrowed eyes. When she realized Daniel wasn't going into any details, she made another bubble with her gum. They watched the people in the pool for a while. There were not many. Most of the adults were sitting at the bars or on the loungers. The smaller kids were in the children pool. 

"Your Jack's kewl," the Inuit girl said. "He was laughing when we had that food fight. I saw him hiding his face."

"He's okay," Daniel replied.

"You like him a lot." It was not meant as teasing. 

"Yeah, I guess."

"I didn't believe he's not your dad. I'm sorry. But I thought..." Anna shrugged.

"That's okay." 

She nodded and then flipped her book open. It was a Harry Potter. Daniel felt a little geeky when he opened his own old paperback of Lost Atlantis by JV Luce. But Anna craned her neck to look at what he was reading and said, "That's cool. I read it some time ago. Do you think, Atlantis is really buried under a volcano near Crete?"

"Oh, I don't know. I think it's a myth," Daniel replied carefully.

"What? Atlantis?"

"No. The volcano theory." 

"I think Atlantis was built by aliens," Anna said.

Daniel put his book down and stared at her. She brushed a fly from the pages of her book and then looked back at him with a challenging look in her dark eyes.

"Maybe," he mumbled. 

"Okay, they're just theories. But I think it's true. There were aliens on Earth once. How do you explain all the civilizations that were so... so..."

"Advanced," Daniel helped.

"Yeah. That. And then they just vanished? How can that happen?"

"Oh, it can happen. Plagues, wars... "

"Okay, but I don't think so. Egypt had been such a civilization, too. The Maya..." 

They discussed this for a while and Daniel was amazed he was actually talking about things like this with a ten year old. When he had been ten, he  hadn’t known one single kid  who was interested in things like th ese . Sure, she was probably getting a lot of her ideas from science fiction books and magazines. But she had read a few real good books too and she had developed her own theories. It was entertaining and interesting. Too bad Daniel couldn't tell her how close she got to the truth.

In between Jack came back from the pool and they got new drinks.

*******

"Ah, this is vacation. Drinks... pool... sun... No sand. No pyramids," Jack sighed happily as he stretched out on the lounge next to Daniel.

"And no museums," Daniel snorted.

"Yep. That, too. But hey - it wasn't that bad. The mummies were cool"

Ruth and Hank put away their books and went to the pool together. After a moment, Anna followed them. Daniel had to pass. Right now he really looked as if he wanted to go swimming, too.

Jack watched him for a moment and then asked, "Whatcha' reading?"

"Oh. It's about the Lost City," Daniel mumbled absently, staring at the book cover. 

"The Lost City?"

"Uh? Yeah, Atlantis. Anna thinks it was built by aliens."

"Oy. Maybe it was?"

"Ancients," Daniel said.

"What?"

"The... the Lost City. Atlantis. The Ancients built it and then hid it, so it appears lost...”

Jack rose to his elbows and took a close look around, to see if anyone was watching or listening to them. Then he leaned over to Daniel and laid a hand on his back. 

"Ewww! You're cold," the kid screeched startled.

"Sorry. But will you explain this to me? And keep it down, okay?"

"Explain what? I'm reading a book about Atlantis," Daniel muttered irritated as he tried to wipe his hand over the spot Jack had just touched.

"You just said the Ancients built Atlantis. Any meaning?"

Daniel blinked at him in confusion and then shrugged. "Of course. Ancients built Atlantis. Who else? What are you talking about?" 

"Not just ancients, ancients.  _The_ Ancients. You said they built it."

"What?"

Jack rolled his eyes and  s et tled back down on his lounge. "Never mind."

He must have misunderstood. It had just sounded as if Daniel knew something about the Ancients that nobody else knew. But Atlantis was a myth anyway, right? And ancients were all the people who had lived god knows how many centuries ago. So Daniel had talked about some other ancients and not "the" Ancients. 

And wasn't Jack on vacation anyway?

He closed his eyes and let the sun shine down on him. It was nice after the cool water, to dry like this. He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew was Daniel shaking his shoulder and calling his name. When he cracked an eye open, the kid's face was just inches  away  from his  own . 

"Anna is gone. I was bored... I want you to show me how to play with the yo-yo," Daniel said.

Jack rubbed his face with both hands and tried to shake off the dizziness. “Yo-yo?”

Daniel wanted to play with the yo-yo?

"Now?" Jack asked.

"Sure. Why not?"

The yo-yo Jack had gotten from the doctor at the hospital and carried around in his jeans, landed on his chest.

"O-kay. But you have to get your own yo-yo. It's easier to learn that way," Jack said.

"We can buy one in the shops at the fourth floor, maybe," Daniel answered. He pulled at O'Neill's arm until he was in a sitting position.

Well, Jack wasn't going to question this one. If Daniel wanted to learn something from him, he sure as hell would teach him. It didn't happen often that Daniel Jackson needed to learn anything from Jack. Most of the time it was the other way around. Or so it seemed. Daniel was teaching him things all the time. Like having more patience, not shooting at things at first sight, trying to negotiate even if you think it's useless.... shoot the military training to hell if you think it's worth it. 

Jack suspected he hadn't really changed over the years since he knew Daniel. It was more like he had found back to himself with his friend's help. Through Daniel he had become human again. After Charlie's death he had only functioned in a robot kind of way. He had his military training and his bravado - and nothing else. And Daniel had ripped away the military guy and dug out the man underneath.

_And let’s not forget the lessons in self control he’s teaching me_ _now_ _on a regular basis,_ Jack thought with a sour smirk.

They got dressed and hit the hotel's mall together.

There was a shop selling toys where they found a nice blue and white Viper yo-yo for Daniel. 

Jack decided to find a quiet place outside, to have more space for the toy to fly and spin. Daniel was grounded. At home that meant staying in the house. But Jack was willing to extend the perimeters so they weren't going to do anything outside the hotel complex today. For Daniel, who’d wanted to explore Cairo and visit museums or bazaars rather than staying at the hotel, this was punishment enough. They were on vacation after all. 

There was a little park attached to the Pyramisa Inn. That's where they went. It was a small green area with benches and a pond. Since most of the tourists were hanging out at the pool, they found a nice deserted spot by a palm tree and a bench. 

Jack made sure they weren't tailed. It had become a habit to check since he knew somebody might be on their heels. 

Daniel tied a loop in the string of his yo-yo and put it around his index finger. Then he gripped the toy and started to let it swing. After a moment, it hung at the bottom again.

"This can't be so hard," he muttered.

Jack stood beside him palming his own yo-yo. "It's not. Hold the yo-yo in your hand, palm up... like this... with the string wrapped so it comes off your middle finger and goes over the top of the yo-yo... yeah, that's right... Now curl your arm up so your hand is next to your ear. Right - and now bring your elbow down with a snap... release the yo-yo out over the ends of your fingers... okay, that was nice. Try again..." 

It didn't take Daniel long to learn. Ten minutes later he could let the yo-yo sleep and bounce up again. Jack showed him a few simple tricks like a Forward pass and Daniel picked it up very fast. Which wasn't a surprise. He was a bright guy and learning was one of his favorite things to do. 

"Look, Jack! I can make it walk in front of me if I just jerk up my finger a little." 

"That's cool. Let's see who can do it longest."

The trick was to lower the yo-yo as gently as possible so it wouldn't hit the floor, but didn't jump up at the string either. That way it was spinning forward and one had to follow the yo-yo and balance it with the finger holding the loop. 

A couple feet  of ‘walking the yo-yo’  later, Daniel's yo-yo was doing the dead dog as it was hanging motionless on the string again.

"You'll figure it out." Jack grinned and zipped his own yo-yo back up into his hand.

"Waitwaitwait... see, I got it! Just a moment... yep... here goes!" Daniel let his yo-yo walk again and this time he managed to do it a little longer and caught it before it hung out. 

"Can you show me how to let it spin over the shoulder?" he asked after practicing the things he had learned, for a while.

And so they played yo-yo for the most part of the late afternoon. Daniel was getting better and better very soon. When they took a break and sat in the warm grass, Jack took in the flushed face of his kid and the sparkling eyes. He wished it could always be like this. 

"Hey, I can show you how to juggle, too," he said.

"Um, I'm not sure I can do that," Daniel mumbled.

"Sure you can do that. Charlie could do it. We can start with two balls and then go on to three or four. It's no big deal once you know the trick," Jack encouraged him.

"Did Charlie learn it from you?"

"Actually we learned it together," Jack remembered. "They had a circus project at school and Charlie was doing the juggling part. And the  y o-yo tricks. So we practiced together. I was home a lot that year... injuries... and for once had enough time to do something with him. We started with balls and then juggled cones, too. I guess I loved it more than he did. Sara said I was the biggest kid she ever saw. It was fun."

Daniel leaned his head against Jack's side and snuggled a little closer. O'Neill noticed he was scanning the area with his eyes first to make sure there were not too many people who would see. 

"When I was a kid one of my foster dads tried to teach me baseball. I wasn't good at it."

"You don't have to be good at everything. If you have fun doing it, that's great." 

"He didn't see it that way," the kid stated quietly, snuggling even closer.

Jack put an arm around him. It didn't happen often that Daniel gave away glimpses into his real childhood. So this was unknown water and O'Neill didn't say anything. If Daniel felt like sharing some more, he'd come out with it.

"I couldn't pitch and couldn't catch either. And I wasn't good at running," Daniel absently continued.

"Well, you are a damn good runner today. That I can tell," Jack grinned. "Even on those short legs. Maybe you should try it again. I could..."

"No."

"Okay." Jack knew when it was time to back off.

After a while, Daniel continued, "Well, I know I was fast when I was big. I got trained at the SGC for a couple of years. And one of the guys who drilled me was the worst kind of military guy you could imagine. He even forced me to take runs on Sunday mornings when normal people were still asleep."

"SOB," Jack chuckled.

"You can say that again. He was mean. Teal'c is much more gentle than he was. Even though he doesn't let me get away with being lazy either."

"Hey! You've been a grown man. And you were arguing about everything. How long you'd run, which way, why you had to be trained in the first place... And it was very nice to shut you up for a while because you couldn't give me any backtalk while you were running or lifting weights."

"And you could watch my... back."

"Yeah. That was nice, too."

Daniel was playing with the yo-yo in his hands for a moment. Then out of the blue he said, "You almost spanked me today."

Jack needed a few seconds to get what he was talking about. He tightened his arm around Daniel. "I know. But just almost."

"I would have survived it."

"That's not the point."

"You've done it before and I didn't fall into pieces. Whatever Svenson tells you, I'm not that fragile."

Jack pulled out his own yo-yo and absently let it hop up and down on his finger. "Look. I know Svenson's not all knowing and despite what you think, I'm not doing everything she tells me to. But she has a point with the discipline stuff. I know we're walking a fine line here."

"It's blurry," Daniel said quietly. "In a few years from now you really might have become my dad. Part of you fell into the pattern of a 'dad' so easily, it was scary." He nibbled on his lower lip. It was a habit he obviously couldn't get rid of, not even as a kid. "You are raising me. You make conscious decisions about how to deal with things. Even before we started therapy, you were trying to do the right thing for me... being more patient..."

"Which didn't work very well," Jack sighed.

"You are here. You care. So you smacked my butt a few times... well, forget it. If you do it again, I guess I deserve it." Daniel shrugged. 

"It's hard sometimes with those attitude problems. But I think we're better off with the time outs."

"I hate them," Daniel mumbled. 

"And getting your ass smacked is better... why?" Jack asked, his eyebrows raised. He stopped playing with the yo-yo and watched Daniel, who was blushing. When there was no answer, he pressed a little. "Daniel? You know it didn't solve anything. It helped only for the moment."

When Daniel didn't respond to that either, Jack asked him, "You'd really rather get spanked than going into time out?"

"Yes... No... I don't know. I guess I could live without both."

"Hey. You can't have everything." Jack grinned and nudged Daniel with his elbow.

But the kid wasn't smiling back. He stopped rolling the yo-yo around in his palms and put it away. "They make me realize I sometimes act and think like a kid. And I hate that you can actually ‘make me’ sit on a chair in the dining room and think about things. I hate that I apparently need this somehow because I obey you in this. I mean I could refuse it, right? I could just say no, I am not doing it."

"You did today," Jack reminded him.

"Yes. And ended up in time out anyway. It's just... Every time I end up on that chair, I'm so furious, I could scream. Even though I know why I'm sitting there and that it's probably the best way for me to ... focus on things and calm down... part of me still wants to rebel and fight you. I'm still not used to this... "

"Being ruled? Being dependent? Being not in control of things all the time?"

"Yes." Then he took a deep breath and said, “But I've decided I'm not going to fight over it. I know it's better to do it that way than to run up to the tree house and sulk."

"Or... getting smacked."

"Maybe. Yes. Getting smacked was just... as you once said... an easy way out. You smacked, I took a step back and things went on. It was like clearing the air. It's easier than having to sit on a chair and being forced to deal with my own... "

"Childishness?"

"Exorbitant expressions. To get back the balance between sense and sensibility. Mind and emotions. Dealing with it at hand instead of sulking or pretending it's not happening," Daniel explained. He was using his lecture voice. "Punishments like groundings are easier to accept, too, because I really do feel guilty when I screw up. So you do something that fits the crime and it's okay. But the time outs are a psychological thing. I can't run away from them. I try just to focus on being mad at you. But it never works. Then I start feel ing embarrassed and after I'm through that I usually am able to talk instead of yelling and swearing."

"So it does the trick, right?"

"I guess." After a pause he let out a huge sigh. "I'm still trying to tell myself I could live without any... guidance." 

"Every young warrior needs an older mentor," Jack said wisely.

Daniel blinked at him and snorted. "Have you been talking to Teal'c lately?"

"Teal'c is a wise man."

"I still hate it." 

Jack chose his words very carefully. He knew talking about this was a sore spot for both of them. And although his paternal streak was taking over as much as Daniel's kid side at times, it was still an issue. Whenever he was disciplining him, there was this awkward moment where Jack wondered if he really had the right to do it. 

"It's a tough thing. I can't promise you I'll never smack you again or just pick you up and carry you away if there's no opportunity for time out. When there's no time I won't discuss things to death either. We've talked about this. But I'm trying hard not to lose my temper so much anymore.” 

"I know. I shouldn't have brought this up. We've been through this with Svenson often enough," Daniel mumbled.

"You know where I’m going to draw the line. I won't let you make our lives hell. But we are doing better today than we did in the first months... I think."

Now there was a smile circling the corners of Daniel's mouth. "We are, aren’t we?"

"Yeah." Jack looked back at him, suddenly amazed about the little things that had changed. A few weeks ago this discussion might have ended with a crying Daniel, who most likely would have blamed the universe for this hell of a life he was living now. Or he would have gone on a guilt trip about how "bad" and "silly" he was. How incapable of handling and controlling his life. 

Because a few months ago, Daniel had switched between having a full temper tantrum or feeling depressed and guilty about certain things; now he was much more stable in his moods. But Jack could only imagine how hard it still  had to  be for the kid to admit he needed Jack to ground him.

And O'Neill had realized some time ago that he himself would never have the guts to commit to something like that. He th ought Daniel was giving him hell sometimes? Heck, he would give Daniel double hell if the situation were reversed. And maybe Daniel, on the other hand, wouldn't lose his tem per so often. Or would come up with tricky pedagogical ways of dealing with a pint sized Jack without the help of a shrink. 

Daniel was so much better than Jack was. So much more sensible. It wasn't his fault that he was stuck in this body and Jack didn't want to hurt him or humiliate him, if possible. Didn't want him to feel like a little brat - even though he was one at times. 

All of a sudden the kid hugged him with so much force they almost fell backwards on the grass. "Jack, nothing you do will ever hurt me! Trust me on this."

Jack needed to clear his throat before he said, "Love ya, buddy. I'm not sure I'd allow anybody to raise me if I were in your shoes, though." 

"You're not anybody, ” Daniel said self confidently, his eyes searching for Jack's. "You're the only one who can." 

"Only because you let me."

"Don't you dare tell anyone," Daniel grinned

"My lips are sealed."

They spend some more time playing with the yo-yos after that until it was time for dinner.

When they entered the restaurant, the waiter gave them the hairy eyeball as he led them to their table. But Daniel talked to him in Egyptian and when he had finished, the man smiled and nodded his head.

"What did you tell him?" Jack asked, even though he had a pretty good idea.

Daniel blushed and played with his water glass for a moment. "I, um, apologized for what happened at lunch. I told him we're going to give him an extra tip for cleaning up."

" _We_ ?"

"Uh... you. And I'll pay you back later."

“Good enough.” After they were finished eating, Jack added a decent tip for the waiter and they went back to his room to watch some TV. 

But when they reached their floor, Daniel pulled out his own key and told Jack he was going to bed. Frowning he put a hand on the kid's forehead. It didn't feel warm. "Are you okay?"

"Sure. I'm fine." 

"So why are you...?" Then it dawned him and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Grounded."

Groundings included early bedtimes and no TV. Jack almost forgot about that. It had been a while since Daniel's last grounding. If Jack thought about it, it must have been in the summer. 

There was hope in the Wretch's eyes when he asked: "Are you taking it back?"

Should he?

Leaving today’s events aside, Daniel seemed to be a lot calmer lately. He was still stubborn and argumentative. It was just the way he was. But his last really bad day had been when they'd been hunting the raccoon on base. It wasn't as if they never argued again since then. But the overacting and the exhausting fits had gotten much less. Maybe he really was outgrowing the tantrums.

Little by little. 

"Just because you apologized so nicely to the restaurant staff," Jack muttered finally.

A huge grin appeared on Daniel's face. "Really?"

"And because we're on vacation. And only if you get some snacks from your mini bar. Mine are all gone, " Jack said gruffly. "And I'll chose the movie."

"I don't have to watch 'The Mummy' again, right?" 

"Nah. They have The Flintstones, too," Jack smiled. "Should be torture enough for you."

"Oh, early bedtime sounds real good right now," Daniel groaned. 

  
  


They ended up sitting on Jack's bed, playing poker. While it was a little weird to play poker with an eight year old, Jack could at least praise himself that he had taught Daniel well. 

The Wretch was winning the fourth round already. 

When Jack dealt out the cards for a new round, Daniel suddenly said, "Thanks for letting me stay up by the way."

"Yeah, well. So much for being consistent."

"I think I can forgive you this time." Daniel snorted.

**IX**

An hour later, they had each piled up an amount of chocolate bars on their sides of the bed and Daniel was happily munching his third one. 

"I'm never going to get you to sleep tonight," Jack groaned.

Daniel snickered at that. He might have a sugar overload which would keep him energized for the next few hours. Not to mention that he might get a tummy ache. But right now, he didn't care. He loved chocolate as much as he loved coffee and he had won two more bars  over Jack, which made him feel very proud of himself.

"Put the rest away for tomorrow. You'll get a sugar kick," Jack told him.

"I had salad and meat for dinner and no dessert," Daniel complained, licking the melted chocolate from his fingers. "And I won these. So they're all mine."

"They'll still be yours tomorrow." 

"I had no coffee for days now. Will you please let me have at least my chocolate fix?" Daniel pouted.

He knew Jack had to look away to hide a grin, before he cleared his throat. "You had three. That's enough."

"Four."

"Daniel... I really don't get it. Why can you be all grown up and reasonable one minute and the next moment you... stop pouting... you're not getting any more chocolate today." Jack tried to stay serious but failed miserably. "You know your effect on me too well." He sighed, shaking his head.

"All I have is my cute looks." Daniel shrugged.

Jack snorted. "Now you think that's a good thing. But when I dare to tell you how cute you are on a normal day, you get all bitchy."

"It's different when I do it on purpose," Daniel told him before he shoved the rest of the chocolate into his mouth.

"Right. Now put the chocolate away and wash your face." 

Rolling his eyes at Jack Daniel walked into the bathroom muttering under his breath, "I really don't know why I listen to you anyway. I'm thirty-fi ve. You’d think I 'm able to decide on my own what I eat and when I eat it."

When he looked into the mirror over the sink, he had to grin at himself. There was chocolate all around his mouth. Maybe he was looking cute after all. And maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. At least if it could be used to his own advantages in dealing with Jack's "daddy-act" at times. 

He heard Jack call after him, "You're right. And when you get sick tonight you can decide on your own how to deal with that."

Daniel came out of the bathroom and let himself fall on the bed. He stuck his tongue out at Jack and grinned. "I’ll stay here tonight. Then you can nurse and pamper me."

"Over my dead body. You throw up your chocolate - you clean it up."

"Meanie!" 

Apparently the sugar was alrea dy kicking in. Daniel wondered if there was more sugar in Arabian chocolate. He only had four small bars... but then again he was much smaller today. Normally Jack was keeping an eye on his chocolate consumption as well as on his coffee habit. Another thing Daniel compromised about without too much fussing by now - which didn't mea n he wouldn't try to get away with as much coffee as he could. 

"Go jump on the bed or something," Jack said, rolling his eyes at him.

Daniel blinked. "What? Why?"

"To get your energy level down."

"You want me to jump on the bed." Daniel stared at him and then burs t into laughter.

"Either that or we'll go downstairs and I let you run around the pool twenty times, including jumping over the sun loungers," Jack grinned.

"I could jump on the bed," Daniel giggled, finding the idea absolutely hilarious.

And now Jack was challenging him. "Aw, no. You'll never do something that childish. Throwing popcorn at old colonels - okay. Squirting ketchup at little girls - yes. But jumping on the bed? Doctor Daniel Jackson? Never!"

"Are you saying I don't have the guts to do it?" 

Jack made a show of wagging his eyebrows and shaking his head. "You're waaay too serious and grown up to do something like that." 

"No, I'm not."

"Sure you are!"

Daniel gazed up at the ceiling, all of a sudden remembering something from a long time ago. "Do you know the last time, I jumped on a bed?"

"You jumped on a bed? When?"

"After I snuck into your office where I found the star constellations on your wall and figured the Stargate symbols out. I was so excited... I jumped on the field bed in the quarters they had given me on the base- and it crashed."

"What?" 

"It crashed."

"No. The other part. About sneaking into my office," Jack growled.

"Uh, I was curious. And I thought you were hiding something. I was very uncomfortable about the military back then. I searched your desk."

"You sneaky little... what did you find?"

"Ja-ack... that was more than six years ago... almost seven now. I found nothing. The drawers were all empty. Except for a picture of your family... and when I walked out I saw that star map at your wall. And it hit me like a ton of bricks."

"You stole it," Jack said, a grin slowly spreading out on his face. "You little bastard stole the map from my office. I knew it was you. I just had no evidence. And I didn't know how you got in there."

"Nail clippers," Daniel said, a little sheepish.

"Well, I'll be damned. And there I thought you were just a cute little..."

"Jaaack!"

"...naive..."

"Not naive! I've never been..."

"Non military, geeky, smart-mouthed grasshopper with big blue eyes and baggy clothes... You had that brilliant mind and the big visions, but no idea how to make your living." 

Daniel hit Jack with his pillow. He couldn't help but laugh. "And you were a frustrated, Special Op's trained, cold hearted..."

"Hey!"

"Suicidal, sarcastic son of a bitch!"

"And you saved me," Jack said, ducking away and grabbing the pillow at the same time. 

"Yeah well, everybody makes mistake s here and there," Daniel quipped. He was hanging on the other end of the pillow and tried to rip it out of Jack's hands. "Let go!"

"Why? So you can hit me? No way!" Jack kept pulling and a moment later had the pillow and Daniel plastered to his chest. They rolled over the bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Daniel managed to get hold of the pillow that was wedged between them. He pulled and wriggled until he twisted it out of Jack's hands and then stuffed it into Jack's laughing face. 

"And-you-are-still-a-prick," he huffed, laughing, too.

Jack made choking noises under the pillow. Then he lifted Daniel up with both hands and threw him back on the bed, where he scrambled to his feet and tried a careful bounce.

Jack sat on the floor and watched him, his face one big goofy grin.

Daniel bounced a little more.

"Higher," Jack encouraged him.

"As a responsible adult you should tell me to stop it," Daniel gasped, now jumping with more confidence. 

"Are you nuts? It's all part of find-your-inner-child therapy! Come O N! You can do better than that!

Daniel jumped some more. He pulled up his knees and spread his arms. He felt a tickle in the pit of his stomach that made its way up to his chest and came out of his mouth as a fit of giggles and gasps, while he was gaining height and speed.

"And there the kid goes up... reaches the lamp... uuuuuhhh... almost," Jack yelled like a sports commentator on TV.

Daniel jumped and laughed, and jumped... 

Jack was on his feet now, shouting, "Reaching for the lamp again....getting higher and higher... YES! YES! Here he goes... again... and again..."

"Catch me," Daniel yelled. He jumped once more, leaped forward and the next moment Jack's arms were around him and he latched onto him, laughing and squeezing his neck.

He buried his face into the hollow between Jack's neck and shoulder, still giggling. This felt so good. It always did when they were goofing around. Jack started to spin until he felt dizzy. They fell down on the bed together, chortling and laughing. 

Jack had been right about the sugar kick. Daniel felt like he was drunk. And it wasn't a bad feeling. Or maybe it wasn't the sugar. Maybe he was just happy. It wasn't the first time he'd been happy in the last year, but the moments when he really felt comfortable and one with the world had been rare. Moments when everything felt just right the way it was.

*******

An hour later Daniel was asleep, one hand holding Jack's in a loose grip. 

O'Neill gazed down at the small figure. With his free hand he pulled the covers over him, so he wouldn't get cold. Then he let his fingertips stroke over the now relaxed and peaceful face for a moment. 

The ringing of the phone almost startled him. He picked it up before it woke the kid. "O'Neill?"

"We have to talk."

Jack carefully pulled his hand out from under Daniel's. He needed only a few seconds to get his emotions under control. He stared at the mirror on the opposite wall of the room. He could see his own eyes narrow and felt his hand gripping the phone tightly. But his voice was free from any signs of anger or even recognition. 

"We do?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I want to meet you and Daniel. My conditions."

"I don't think so." Jack got up and walked over to the balcony doors. He opened them and stepped out into the still warm night. His eyes scanned the pool area. It was dark but there were colorful lamps at the bars and the water was illuminated. 

His caller let out an impatient sigh. "It is important." 

"Why?"

"I have news."

"Oh. Good news? Like the last time?"

"Come to the Qarafa. There's a Kahwa, that's..."

"I know what a Kahwa is."

"Good. Tomorrow, eight a.m."

"Why don't you come over here for a little chit and chat," Jack suggested sarcastically.

The answer was a deep chuckle. "I prefer places where I can be sure I am not running into unpleasant surprises."

“Right. Then we’re having a problem. We have plans tomorrow. And we're not going to change them just because you showed up," Jack snarled.

There was a pause and another sigh. "Suggestions?"

"Make it twelve hundred. Same place."

Jack listened while he received directions. Then the caller said, "Bring the kid and nobody else." There was a soft click when the connection was interrupted.

 


	4. Egypt IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Daniel go camel riding and meet the mysetrious guy - and the plot thickens. 
> 
> With this chapter the "1st Year" of "Still Jack and Daniel" ends. I'm going to continue posting "The 2nd Year and Beyond" in a while. I'm still working on the final story of this epic atm.

**X**

"Da-ni-el...." 

"What, Jack?"

"It's... staring."

Daniel chuckled and shook his head as he looked down at Jack with sparkling eyes.

Raising a hand to cover his eyes from the sun, O'Neill blinked up at the small figure enthroned high above him. "You’re not laughing at me, are you?"

"Nooo. I'd never do something like that. Why don't you hop up, Jack?"

"Oh, I don't know. I think it doesn't like me," Jack said in a stage whisper, then looked back over his shoulder at the somewhat bored looking face that was on eye level with him. A wave of smelly breath caused him to take a step back.

Grimacing, he turned back to Daniel who was grinning down at him from under his  head dress hat. "It loves you. Look - it’s smiling at you," the Wretch chortled.

Oh, yeah. It was smiling all right. The pulled-back lips revealed huge yellow teeth. It was a mean smile, telling Jack exactly what the camel was thinking. It would carry him to a lone spot somewhere in the desert, get rid of him, and leave him there to rot. And then it would tell his camel friends later how it had eliminated another stupid tourist. 

Great.

Oh, for crying out loud, he was a Special Ops trained colonel in the Air Force. He had faced much worse than a smelly, shaggy beast. A huge beast, though. 

The way Daniel was seated on his own camel made it look like the easiest and most comfortable thing to do. So it shouldn't be a big deal. 

Pulling his sunglasses from the top of his head back onto his nose, Jack faced the camel which, he noted, was no longer smiling at him. Now it seemed to study him as if to decide whether or not to bite a chunk off him.

"O-kay, big guy. I'm coming," Jack told the beast. "Easy!"

It stared back at him, unimpressed.

Jack walked to its side. It sat on its folded legs in the hot sand, awaiting his mounting. And while Jack tried to figure out how to get into the saddle, Daniel was laughing his tail off. Since the Wretch didn't give him any instructions, Jack would rather bite off his tongue than to ask for help. He just decided to treat this thing like a horse.

He threw one leg over the saddle and climbed onto it. The camel got up, thrusting his rear end high into the air, grunting and groaning like Chewbacca... and Jack was thrown forward. He clamped his arms onto the camel's neck. 

"Whoa..." Clutching his hands into the filthy shaggy fur, he was thrown backwards as the camel rose to its front legs. Thrown off the saddle, he w as dangling somewhere on the muscular long neck for a moment and then slid to the ground. At least he didn't fall on his butt. 

Daniel was roaring with laughter. The boy who'd shown them their camels, a teenager dressed in an old, grubby tunic, tried not to smile. He pulled at the camel's rein and the beast settled down again. Jack was sure it rolled its eyes at him before it gracefully crossed its legs and sat.

The camel tout showed him how to climb up and stay in the saddle. It wasn't really difficult once Jack knew the trick. When the camel stood again, he managed to stay in the saddle and gripped the reins tight. 

"Stop laughing," he hissed at Daniel.

"Sorry." Daniel giggled. 

The guide mounted his own camel and a moment later he led them out into the desert.

Daniel was in the middle and Jack behind him. He was glad the kid couldn't see him right now. He had ridden horses before. That had been okay. This was totally different. With gritted teeth he tried to go with the back-forward movements, feeling himself thrown back and forth with every ambling step the creature took. After a while it got better, but the swaying was still a little disturbing. Jack was bouncing and wondering how the kid could look so comfortable. The fact Daniel had been riding camels when he'd been little didn't mean he had to be so good at it. 

Daniel had assured Jack he was going to love it. "Wait until they run! It is great, Jack," he’ d told him.

Oh, yeah. 

Jack glared at the bobbing head at the end of the long neck. He could hear the camel chew on something with those giant teeth. The smell wasn't really thrilling either.

Damn. Jack wished he had grounded Daniel for the rest of their trip. Staying at the hotel pool seemed to be a much better way to spend the day than... this. He could have gone to the pool and let the sun shine down on him while Daniel could have laid on a lounge under a sun shade, reading books or playing with his Nintendo.

Right.

And he'd be whining Jack's ears off.

Oh, who was he kidding. After the call he'd gotten last night Jack would do anything Daniel wanted just to see him like this;  s miling, sparkling eyes, flushed face and all. It could be all over after lunch.

So they had visited the great pyramids again, wandered around the crowded chambers with all the other tourists. Fortunately Daniel had gotten tired of th at very soon. It was just not the same as exploring strange dangerous temples on other planets, where nice little monsters were waiting for you in the shadows. So Daniel had been bored and they had left the pyramids. 

Jack had dreamed of cool drinks, sure his wish to relax would become a nice reality very soon, when the kid had literally bounced up and down at the idea of camel riding. Uttering very childlike things like, "Please-Jack-you-are-going-to-love-it,” Daniel had dragged him out of the shadows of the pyramid of Khufu and over to a group of natives who were offering one hour rides into the dessert.

And there was no way Jack could have denied him anything today. 

So here they were, sitting on long legged camels, the sun frying their brains... To be fair, Jack had to admit the white head ** - ** cloth ~~ e ~~ s they were wearing seemed to be effective in keeping the sun from burning their scalps. Daniel had said they were called ghoutra or whatever. They had purchased them at the hotel this morning and the kid had shown him how to put them on. 

Jack stared at the almost white sky, only darkened by his sunglasses, when Daniel turned around on his one humped camel and smiled at him. "How're you doing, Jack?"

"Peachy. Just peachy..."

"You look a little green around the gills. I never thought a guy like you actually gets sick from riding a camel. I mean, you’ve gone through a wormhole..."

"I'm not green... and stop talking about classified stuff."

"Special Ops trained... flying fighter jets... being the tough guy you are..."

"Daniel..."

"I'm just saying."

Jack tried to remember why he had to put up with this kind of cheekiness. Wasn't there a rule that downsized archaeologists should transform into polite angelic little boys eventually? Oy. Apparently the sun was really roasting his brain.

Aside from the soft rhythmic thud of camel feet upon sand, there was no sound. No birds. No animals. Just the three camels with their riders and their long shadows on the sand. 

"Are you up for a run?" Daniel asked him over his shoulder.

No. Definitely not. "Yeah. Sure."

What was he? A coward? How fast could a big thing like this run anyway?

Daniel yelled something to their guide  who nodded and spurred his own camel into action . The back-forward movement of the camels became faster. It was a clumsy, wobbly sprint. The camels let out loud roars and stomped forward through the dunes.

But Jack had to admit that, once he had gotten used to all the bouncing, it wasn't really that bad. His beast was running alongside Daniel's now.

They looked at each other and there was a mischievous gleam in the blue eyes. Daniel pressed his rather short legs into the camel's hump and made kissing noises with his mouth. Actuated by Jack's camel, Daniel's was running off into the wideness of the dessert.

"HEY!" Jack yelled.

Then his camel was running after Daniel's, gaining speed rapidly, snuffing and grunting with obvious pleasure at the fast ride. Or maybe it was complaining. Jack wasn't really sure of that. And he didn't really care either. Flying jets in loops was fun, going through a wormhole was his daily job, hopping through space on Goa'uld ships was cool... Galloping on a camel's back through the dessert almost made him throw up his breakfast. 

Daniel was "Woohooing" somewhere in front of him and the guide stayed behind, watching them.

Jack got close enough to Daniel to yell, "Stop it!"

A few feet ahead of him, his little friend managed to curb his animal. Seeing this, Jack's camel fell in a slower trot, too. As soon as he was next to Daniel, and sp at out the sand he'd gotten into his mouth during the race, Jack was about to chew him out for letting his camel run so fast and far. But the shining blue eyes and the pure joy on Daniel's face made him swallow any harsh words he had in mind.

"Jack! This was great! I mean, wasn't it?" Daniel grinned, a little breathless.

"Woohoo," Jack said dryly. 

Daniel laughed. 

They turned the camels around and looked out for their guide, who was waiting a few feet away. Jack gazed over at the silhouettes of the three big pyramids and the Sphinx. He tried to estimate how far away they were. In the desert, distances were always hard to tell.

"Hey," Daniel suddenly said. "I never thought you'd agree to do this, you know. With that guy tailing us. I thought you'd be too paranoid."

"Concerned, Daniel. I would be too concerned," Jack corrected.

"Um, anyway, I would have understood. But... this was great. So, thanks." Daniel patted the hump of his camel.

"Yeah," Jack sighed. Now that he knew who was after them, there was no need to be overly cautious anymore. 

Damn. 

He had to tell him.

Daniel pulled him out of his gloomy thoughts when he said, "I think I remember where our dig site was, Jack. Can we go there with the camels? I want to show you."

"Sure. Lead the way." Jack watched his kid talk to the guide a mile a minute and gesture at something in the distance. The native man nodded and a moment later they were on their way again, back towards the pyramids.

Jack watched Daniel on his camel. His feet barely reac hed the end of the saddle. He tried to imagine how the kid might look in a tunic matching the head ** - ** cloth. He'd make a great young Aladdin maybe. The boy with the magic lamp... and the genie would make him big again.

 

Suddenly O'Neill felt his chest tighten with... what? Fear? He wasn't sure what exactly it was and he opted for not going into that right now. 

 

*******

 

They reached the tombs ten minutes later and their tout made the camels sit on the sand again so they could jump off easily. The young man asked if they wanted him to wait or if they'd pay him and walk back on foot. Jack and Daniel figured the way to their car was longer from the place where the camel touts gathered to offer their services, so they paid the man and watched him leave. 

 

"I should have taken a picture," Jack suddenly said when they stood on a stony plateau not far from the pyramids.

 

"Of what?" Daniel asked. He looked at the old walls and buildings to see if he recognized them.

 

"You on that camel."

 

"Maybe we can do it again once more before we leave... come on, I know where our tents were. Everything looks so different today. But I think I can see the place."

 

He grabbed for Jack's hand and pulled him down the old sandy steps and over a wide path between two semi derelict limestone walls. "These cemeteries had already been uncovered when we got here. My parents took this site over from a group of other archaeologists. We were digging for pieces of grave jewelry, but also for household pieces of Egyptian workers who lived here as they were building the tombs. I remember the day when I found my first artifact."

 

"How old were you?" Jack asked.

 

"Maybe five... I had my own tools. Brushes, a small shovel, a hoe, gloves and my journal with a pencil. I had a bag to put everything in. I even got small containers for the things I found. I wanted to find a statue or a mask. Or a stone with hieroglyphics. I thought those were the most important things an archaeologist needed to find on digs."

 

"So what'd you find?"

 

"Um... take a guess," Daniel smiled.

 

"A sculpture?"

 

"No."

 

"One of those tablets with chicken scratchings?"

 

"Wrong again. I found a piece of a spoon. When I found it, I was excited of course. It looked like a stick with carvings in it. And I called my dad to show him after I brushed it off and everything."

 

Daniel gazed at the empty place where their camp had been. Today, there was nothing left but sand and patches of dry grass. And garbage. A coke can, half buried in the sandy ocean of the desert, pieces of candy bar wrappers and other trash, all thrown away by careless tourists. 

 

It hadn't been like that back in early seventies Of course, everything seemed to have been better in his memories. But he clearly remembered that day when he had found that piece of a stick with the engravings in it. He had played with his tools near his parents, outside the bordered territory where the real digging took place...

 

  
  


 

_... Danny was shoveling the sand away, knowing he would find some real treasure here. His dad had told him an archaeologist needed the mind of a detective so he knew where to look and for what. His five year old mind imagined he found a hint, like piled up stones. Those stones had been part of a pyramid or a tomb once. It would have been limestone. All pyramids were built from limestone. Of course, the stones were only a product of his fantasy. But he didn't care. He kept on shoveling, then very carefully examined the hole with knitted eyebrows and keen eyes._

 

_Very soon he would discover something important. Absently, Danny scratched his head under his little white bandana. It was very hot and mommy had told him to go in the tent for a while to escape the heat. But he needed just a few minutes more to find..._

 

_His shovel made contact with something solid. Danny held his breath. Oh, there really was something. Did he accidentally break it with the shovel? He threw the tool aside and dug in his bag for a brush and his gloves. Very carefully, he started brushing away the sand, finally unearthing a long brown object. He thought it was just a stick, but in his mind he continued to think it was a precious statue of Hathor, the goddess of life._

 

_When he had freed the object completely from the sand, he carefully took it in his gloved hands and felt his heart jump in excitement. It wasn't a stick. It was... an art-i-fact. A real art-i-fact. He rolled that word around in his mind for a moment. It was a cool word. A complicated word. Artifact. It held all sorts of secrets – from the past._

 

_What he’d found was a handle of some sort in the form of an ancient column. There were three little pieces on it, looking sort of like leaves. But the edges were broken and Danny couldn't tell what it really was. The tip of his tongue stuck out between his lips in concentration as he held the artifact in one of his small hands and brushed the sand and dust from it with the tiny brush. A jolt of something he couldn't name yet was running down his spine._

 

_Later when he was older he would have words for it. Curiosity. Excitement. The sheer joy of exploring. The passion for what would be his work, his life._

 

_"Daniel, I told you to go into the tent. Fatme will give you something to drink and you should rest," Claire Jackson's voice came from behind him._

 

_Tent? Rest? Daniel had no time for either of it. "Mommy,_ _D_ _addy! I found an artifact," he yelled without stopping to work on it. There were little engravings in it. But he couldn't make out what they were. There was sand and dust in the small creases and he had to be very careful not to break it. Was this one of the sculptures that were given to the dead in their tombs? Something that would help them to go through the underworlds? Maybe it was something cursed..._

 

_"Mommy,_ _D_ _addy," he called out for his parents again._

 

_When a shadow fell over him, he looked up into the smiling face of his dad. "What do you have here, son?"_

 

_"It is ancient," Daniel said proudly, holding the object up so his father could see it._

 

_Dad adjusted his glasses and crouched next to him. When he had examined the object for a moment, he turned his head and shouted over to where his wife was still working. "Claire! Come over here for a minute, darling! Danny might have found something."_

 

_"What is it,_ _D_ _addy? Can you tell what it was? Maybe it was a sculpture? Or a ceremon... ceremonial tool?"_

 

_When his mom was with them, his parents both studied the item._

 

_"Can I have this for a second, Danny?"_ _m_ _om asked. Reluctantly Daniel handed it over. He knew his mom had to take a closer look at it. But this was his first own discovery and somehow letting it go - even if it was only for a minute - wasn't easy._

 

_"It looks like a handle of something. Do you see the sharp edges? There is a piece missing," she said after a minute._

 

_"There are writings on it. See," Danny said, his voice simmering with excitement._

 

Daddy pulled a bottle from his working belt and sprayed a fine layer of water on the item.

 

_"Now brush away the sand. There you can see it better... they're not writings but ornaments like leaves and a flower."_

 

_"What does it mean?" Daniel asked, frowning at it._

 

_"It must be a cosmetic spoon. That's just a guess of course. We have to take it with us and study it some more," Claire explained._

 

_"What's a cosmetic spoon?"_

 

_"Did you ever saw mommy put on her makeup? I know she doesn't do it often. But do you remember when grandpa Nick visited us in spring?" daddy asked him._

 

_Daniel grimaced. He had only met his grandpa Nick a couple of times and didn't like him very much. He was very old. Even older than his parents. And he smelled funny. Daddy said that was the aftershave he used - whatever that was. But the worst thing about grandpa Nick was that his parents acted strange when he visited them. Normally they laughed a lot and were lots of fun. When grandpa Nick was with them, his mom often looked sad and his daddy angry. Daniel didn't know why and when he had asked his parents once, his father had just shrugged and said that there was nothing to worry about. Since grandpa Nick didn't visit them often, Daniel forgot about it._

 

_But yes, he remembered his mom putting color on her lips and eyes, so he nodded his head._

 

_"See, that was what the Egyptians did. They loved to use makeup or creams on their skin. They were very vain an_ _ d took very good care of their bodies. And they created jars where they kept the creams, oils and powder for makeup. And tools to put the makeup on or to create it. All the items were decorated with carvings. This spoon was probably part of those tools. The other end is missing, but this looks like a handle of one," dad explained. _

 

_ Oh. Daniel stared at i _ _t for a moment. His mom was still holding it, brushing off more dust. "It's just a spoon? Are you sure?" He tried not to sound too disappointed. But... a spoon? His first artifact should have been something real big. Something meaningful. Not a spoon._

 

_"Actually this is great, Danny."_ _M_ _om smiled at him._

 

_Sure. A spoon. Great. Danny started gather_ _ing_ _his tools together and tried not to feel sad._

 

_"And you handled it very well," his dad praised. "You didn't break it and you brushed it off very carefully. You have talented hands."_

 

_"Really?" the small boy asked and blinked up at his dad. Maybe he just needed to practice a lot and needed to get good enough in digging so he could work on the real dig areas. Then he would find a real meaningful treasure. Something that was cursed or had hidden magic? Something exciting._

 

_Dad put his hand on Danny's head and ruffled his hair. "Mom will take it to the tent where we store the other artifacts. And we'll write your name on the container so everybody knows it was you who found it," he said._

 

_Danny nodded and then followed his dad to their tent while mom took care of the artifact._

 

_Later, when the sun had set and the air had cooled off, they were sitting around the small camping table inside their tent. The oil lamps were lit and the radio was playing some Arabian music. Mom had brought fresh meat from the market this morning and had cooked beef with rice in a pan._

 

“ _I took a closer look at your spoon, Danny. It's a very good find," mom said as she handed the bread to her husband._

 

_"But it's just a spoon," Danny objected._

 

_Daddy stopped eating and looked over the table at him. Then he pushed away his chair and patted his knee: "Come here a moment, Danny-boy," he said softly._

 

_Danny put down his fork, got up and climbed his dad's lap._

 

_"What did you hope to find?" dad wanted to know,_

 

_"Oh, I dunno..."_

 

_"Daniel. It's 'I don't know,'" his mother sighed._

 

_"Sorry,_ _M_ _om. I don't know. I wanted to find something big. Something meaningful," he confessed after a moment, ducking his head and staring at his hands._

 

_"Do you mean something valuable? Something like gold or jewelry?” his dad asked._

 

_"I dun...n't know. But something that was a real big discovery. Like a death mask. Or ancient writings."_

 

_"A-hah. But those things were mostly discovered in tombs, not just in the sand."_

 

_"I know." Danny sighed. It would have been nice though._

 

_"And do you know what makes being an archaeologist so exciting?"_

 

_He shrugged and took his father’s hand in both of his._

 

_"Sometimes all you'll find is a piece of pottery. Sometimes so very small you almost overlook it. It is not always the golden mask or the jewelry, Danny. But all the small pieces... or the tools like this spoon you found today... all of them together make a big picture."_

 

_Danny thought that over. "Like doing a puzzle?"_

 

_He had done puzzles. Grandpa Nick had send some puzzles for his fourth birthday. One of them had been a cat and a dog and it had over two hundred pieces. He had done it with his mom at the house in Cairo._

 

_"Exactly. But the little pieces you find are not just puzzle pieces. They are telling stories, Danny. And do you have an idea what kind of story they are telling?"_

 

_Daniel leaned back and stroked his fingertips over his dad's thumb. He loved his daddy’s hands. They were strong and warm. And could handle the fragile artifacts with great care. "About the people. You can figure out how they lived. What they were doing and even what kind of food they had," he said slowly._

 

_"Right. And your cosmetic spoon showed us there were people living near the tombs, who used makeup. Maybe we'll find traces of cream or oil on the handle. Maybe we'll find a mirror that fits to the spoon? Wouldn't that be great?"_

 

_"Yes. Or a jar," mom chimed in._

 

_"It's like you make all the dead people alive again," Daniel said suddenly._

 

_"A little, maybe." His father smiled._

 

_"You figure everything out about them so they won't be forgotten."_

 

_"That's true. And the artifacts help us," mom said. "Of course, we can't find out everything. We don't know, for example, who the owner of the spoon was. But we might determine what the spoon had been used for."_

 

_Danny cocked his head to one side and pondered this for a moment. "Mom, can I go and look at the spoon tomorrow?"_

 

_"Sure, honey."_

 

_"I want to know if it is talking to me," Daniel whispered..._

 

... Maybe that was what had laid the foundation for his choice of work. Maybe not. But it had been his first artifact and it was only after he had more archaeological experience, that he could really value that cosmetic spoon. It had been a huge discovery for a five year old and it was still a big discovery for any archaeologist who treasured pieces of pottery or ancient spearheads. 

 

They never really found out what purpose that cosmetic spoon had. It could have been used in any normal home or it could have helped prepare the mummies. That was hard to tell. Oils and creams were essential to cleanse the skin and keep it soft and beautiful in the hot, dry Egyptian climate. To add scent and medicinal properties to the oils, they used the same essences that were used today - chamomile, rosemary, lavender, cedar and mint as well as aloe for its healing properties.

 

But over the years the memory of that cosmetic spoon had come back to him from time to time. And it had taught him that the things that seemed to be so little or taken for granted at times, were often more valuable than he thought. And that it was always good to take a second look at things once in a while. 

 

They wandered over the plateau.

 

"Our camp was like a small city. There were the families of the workers with their goats and chickens. People cooked meals over fires. It was a little like time traveling," Daniel told Jack. 

 

They sat down on boulders and took sips from their water canteens. It was so quiet out here. Once there had been lots of noises, like playing children, laughing men and talking women. It had always been busy in the camp. Now it was just a plateau covered with sand. The desert had swallowed every trace of the humans that had once lived and worked here. Like it had done thousands and thousands of years ago. Again and again. 

 

Jack blinked up at the sun. "I'm sorry you lost all this," he said, his voice low.

Daniel's gaze met the chocolate brown eyes of his friend. There was a tenderness there he doubted anybody else got to see these days. When Jack was opening up it showed in his eyes first. They were vulnerable and soft at those moments.

"Hey, it's okay. It happened a long time ago." 

But ever since he'd gotten little, the time line got blurry. And being in Egypt made it even more difficult to realize that all his memories of his parents were from half of a lifetime ago. 

"Doesn't matter sometimes," Jack said. 

"No. But it's getting better."

"Yeah." 

They fell in a comfortable silence, until Jack suddenly asked, "Hey, Danny-boy. Did you have a good time? I know walking down memory lane isn't always easy, but..."

"Uh, despite of the ear infection and the food fight... and the fact that we missed the trekking tour..."

"The food fight had its moments," Jack blurted out, biting his lip when a low chuckle escaped him.

"Ya think?"

"Don't tell anybody I said that. Or I'll have to shoot you."

Daniel started giggl ing , feeling the moment of melancholy disappear. "Yes. I’ve had a good time," he said finally. 

"Good," was the soft reply.

Daniel closed his water bottle and looked thoughtfully at Jack's profile. Then his eyes grew big when something hit him. "That's why you were reading the Ancient Egypt things. That's why you weren't complaining too much in the museum... and why you didn't roll your eyes all the time when we were on the felucca with those ladies. You wanted me to feel good."

"How am I doing?" Jack quipped. But his flippant tone couldn't hide the insecure look in his dark eyes, when they met Daniel's again. 

"I like you better when you're just you. Rolling eyes and all," Daniel grinned, seeing the red spots on his friend’s face. Jack didn't blush very often. 

"I wanted this trip to be great for you. I want you to look back at this and remember the fun we had. Not how I was nagging at you for hauling me into museums or anything," Jack said, sounding almost sheepish.

"You don't have to do that, Jack. I know you get bored when I'm doing the lecture thing. I don't need you to force yourself to do things just because you think it will make me feel better," Daniel replied. But he had to smile nevertheless.

"Maybe that's not the way it is," Jack said slowly.

Daniel snorted. "What? You telling me you secretly admire ancient historical stuff, but never let me know because of... what?"

"No. I do get bored when you  go into lecture mode. And I don't care about most of the historical meaning of life stuff you are so hooked on. But when we've been... when you were big... The more you kept drooling about all your rocks and chicken scratchings on walls, the more I had to roll my eyes at it. It was like a competition. I liked to get you off balance. I liked the way you started to pout and splutter and get all... uh... bitchy. I thought it was... hot. And after a while doing it had become so natural, I did it automatically."

Now it was Daniel's turn to duck his head and feel a little embarrassed. "I know. I did that too... annoy you because... I got a kick out of it sometimes. I mean, it's the thing we do, right?"

"But we don't have any reason to do it now. You're still cute when you're pouting and glaring at me. But annoying you just isn’t the same anymore. And I liked the museum. And the felucca trip was great. I'm not pretending anything. I still roll my eyes - a lot. I just try not to overdo it on purpose." 

“We are weird, aren't we?” Daniel sniggered. 

Jack ruffled his hair affectionately. "Yeah, we sure are. No wonder we need therapy.”

They put the bottles away and brushed the sand from their pants when they got up. Daniel pointed at two derelict walls which must have been part of a building once. "I remember that one. It was a family home for one of the workers who were involved in building the pyramids. It had two rooms. We, I mean the people who worked here, found several pieces of household utensils. I remember how excited everyone was when they dug out parts of a carafe. We were all..."

He stopped when Jack disappeared behind the walls for a moment.

"Jack?"

"Be right with ya."

"What are you doing?"

"Shoe is open," came the muffled answer. A moment later, Jack's silver haired head popped up behind the wall as he got up again, grinning. Then he looked at his watch and let out a sigh and the grin disappeared. "It's lunchtime soon." 

"Are you hungry? We can go back," Daniel offered.

Jack nodded, but then put an arm around Daniel's shoulder as they walked over to a knee high wall which was left from another tomb. They sat down again and Daniel suddenly had a funny feeling in his stomach. Something was up. Jack was unusually quiet. Hadn't he been like that all day?

"What's going on, Jack?"

"It's been a year," Jack said slowly.. 

"Yes. Next week. I know. I hope you don't mind if I don't want to celebrate. Then again it's like my second birthday or something like that," Daniel joked. 

Jack shook his head, a lopsided smile appearing on his face. "Who knew you'd joke about this."

"What do they say? If you can't cry anymore, you have to laugh about it?"

"Was that another joke, Doctor Jackson? I'm floored."

Daniel shrugged. Curiously enough the thought of this one year anniversary didn't bother him as much as he'd expected. Other things were still bothering him though. Like what had happened at the restaurant. Or the hospital. If he'd have to do a resume about last year, he would probably think about all the tears and the fights with Jack. The struggling with everyday life, the way he never seemed to stop getting into trouble... the found and lost hopes and his encounter with Svartil. Reese and Oma... 

But they had built the tree house and rescued Nashi. Daniel had made his first child-friend in ages when they had been off world. There were little things, too. Like the zoo and going into the park. Sitting on the swing and watching kid movies. Oh yeah, he had done that. Since he had his own TV, he had secretly enjoyed watching the cartoon series of The Wizard of Oz among other things. And while he still loved his Discovery Channel so much, he enjoyed some of the kid's program every once in a while. Being tucked in at nights was great. Playing board games was cool and he still tried to beat some of the high scores in some of his Nintendo games Jack had set. 

"This is really strange. My first childhood started here. Now I’m back and I’m a child again. Do you think that means something?" he mumbled as he gazed at the tall majestic Sphinx and the smaller pyramids that were harboring the pharaoh's women.

"Like what?" Jack asked back, his voice suddenly tensed.

*******

"Like... maybe it's time to let go," Daniel said. He sounded a little surprised, like he couldn't believe what he was saying.

Crap.

Why now?

Why was he coming around to that now?

Jack let out a huff of air. "Daniel... " he started.

"I mean, don't you think I'm really pathetic? Maybe it's time to stop whining about what was and what could have been."

"I got a call last night."

There.

Now it was out.

Daniel frowned. "Who called?"

"We have an appointment."

"What?"

"And we'll be late if we don't go now," Jack said.

"Waitwaitwait... we have an appointment with...?"

Jack stared up into the sky like there was something very interesting to see. "Pierson."

Silence.

Then: "What does he want?”

“He didn't say. Said he has news.”

“Why didn't you tell me?"

Without looking at the kid, Jack said, "I knew you would be anxious. And I wanted you to enjoy at least the first part of the day. You can be mad at me if you like. But seeing you on that camel was worth it." 

He waited for the ka-boom.

It never came.

When the world didn't crash and Daniel didn't attack him, Jack jerked his eyes away from the incredible cloudless sky and glanced at him. The kid was still sitting on the stone wall. Deep blue eyes looked at him. And like it had been before, Jack could see the eyes of the man in the face of the child. 

Daniel gave a short nod and jumped to his feet. "Let's go."

They made the walk back to the car in silence. Jack wondered what was going on in Daniel's head. But he didn't ask. He knew Daniel had to get through this with himself first. But Jack could feel the tension build up in himself and he was sure, Daniel felt it, too. They didn't know what to expect and Jack knew hopes and fears were wrangling in the kid's mind. He himself had a hard time to imagine what was coming. 

When they were on their way back to Cairo, he said, "What do you know about a place called Qarafa?"

"Is that where we're going to meet him?"

"Yep."

"Well, Qarafa is a part of Cairo... actually it's a necropolis."

"What? Cemeteries?"

“Yes. It was once at the outskirts of Cairo, but the city had built itself around it so now it is in the middle of it. Qarafa is also called _the City of the Dead._ _It had been_ a real important burial ground during the Bahri Mamluks..."

Jack tried to concentrate on the crazy traffic, his eyes searching for a street sign for the right road to Qarafa. "That bastard wants to meet us in a damn graveyard? But he was talking about a coffee shop..."

"There might be coffee shops," Daniel said. "The City of the Dead is actually a slum. People live there in the tombs amongst the dead. It isn't legal, but nobody cares. They turned the necropolis into a metropolis somehow. I have never been there, but I know there are great historical monuments. Those tombs go way back into the time of..." 

"Isn't that just peachy," Jack growled, interrupting Daniel before he could start a lecture. Of course that didn't help. Daniel had learned to ignore Jack at times and just continue with what he wanted to say. 

"... Al-Fustat who was buried there. And it soon covered an area that was over six kilometers long. When the Fatmids came to Egypt in 969 they established the fortified royal enclosure Al-Qahira, which meant  _ the Subduer or the Victorious. That  _ was the start of what Cairo is today. Later important Sufi orders chose the area outside Al-Qahira for their spiritual seeking and when Sufi Sheikhs was buried close to the settlement these tombs became places for pilgrimages..."

"TMI, Daniel."

"I'm just saying..."

"I need to concentrate on the damn traffic or we're going to end in one of those tombs, too – dead." 

"I doubt that. They would most likely take everything valuable from our bodies and sell it on a market," Daniel muttered.

Between two big streets was a "shortcut road", just like Pierson had told him. And in the middle of that road stood a monument. 

"There it is," Daniel told him. "The entrance of the City of the Dead. This building was built for a woman from the ruling class – well, she just had to have been beautiful to match such a monument, I think. I suggest we park here and walk through it. Do you know the address of the coffee shop?"

"I have directions," Jack muttered, staring at the huge brown building. It looked like a mosque to him. He didn't like this one bit. And Pierson better had a good reason for luring them into a place like this.

They parked the car, locked it and crossed the street. Jack took Daniel's hand. No way was he going to lose him around here. They passed a huge gate and it was as if they had stepped through the Stargate. The first thing Jack noticed was the smell. And the flies. Daniel had been right. This was a slum. A slum in a graveyard.

Swell. 

Half naked children were playing in dirty garbage strewn streets, laundry lines crossed the spaces between gravestones or tombs that were made into homes. Mostly there were no doors and as they passed by, they could see furniture between cement coffins. At one house Jack saw people sitting around one of those coffins for lunch, using it as a table. 

Some of the historic buildings had been turned into Video stores, car repair shops or markets. Old men were sitting in front of the tombs, smoking and talking. 

"Over five million Egyptians live here," Daniel lectured. "They just took over the tombs and who came first got the real estate so to speak. There's no electricity and no sewer or trash service here. Some people probably have generators for power.”

"I noticed that," Jack groused. He really wasn't sure if he wanted to know any details about how people lived here. He was getting a pretty clear picture without that, thank you very much. The smell was overwhelming. Garbage mixed with cooked food and feces. Bedraggled skinny dogs and cats were searching for food in the trash or sleeping in front of the tomb entrances. 

This was so not good. Aside from the dangers every ghetto like this held, the neighborhood brought back memories of Iraq. The smell sent him right down his own special memory lane into a dark rathole of a prison where he'd been reduced to only using his instincts and a pure will of staying alive while he had been blindfolded, tortured... And he would not go there. Jack cut everything out, focused on the here and now. 

Dark gloomy eyes followed them as they walked down the dirty street. Young men, dressed in cheap western clothing like t-shirts and jeans, took notice of the new visitors. 

Damn. They should have gotten some native clothes before coming here. Or at the very least they shouldn't have left their ghoutras in the car.

O'Neill felt the heaviness of his gun in the inside pocket of his jacket. But it didn't make him feel better. If they got mugged he might be able to fight them off with just his bare hands. But if there were knives or other weapons involved he might have to pull his own. These guys were just kids. And he really didn't want to get into a street fight. 

At the next corner, they turned right and passed a crowded plaza. 

"Jack, look over there! See the writings over the entrance? That's the tomb of Sultan Farag Ibn Barquq. Al-Malik Al-Nasir Zayn Al-Din Abu Al-Sa'dat Farag Ibn Barquq was the twenty-sixth Mamluk and the third Circassian Mamluk sultan to rule Egypt. His mother was a Turk called Khawand Shirin."

Jack gazed down at him, his head already spinning. "What?"

"Um, never mind... But legend says that Braquq was born immediately before his father, Sultan Al-Zahir Barquq. He was considered a bringer of bad luck and named Balfaq. This is a great monument! I have never seen it for real..."

Daniel tugged at Jack's hand to pull him over. But O'Neill snatched him back and kept walking down the street. "We're going to meet Pierson and then we're outta here ASAP."

"But Ja-ack. Just a minute. I could read the writing on the coffins and take a couple of pics..."

"Yeah, but first you'd have to ask the owner if it's okay to take pics of his living room."

"Maybe they don't mind?"

"Daniel, we are not going in one of those tombs," Jack huffed. "There's no time. And even if there was, I'm not interested in seeing more dead people."

"I'll go alone then," came the pissed answer. Daniel jerked his hand out of Jack's and stopped in the middle of the street, glaring.

Jack glared back. "Oh yeah? Try. And see how far you'll get before I..."

He stopped when he saw the tremble of Daniel's bottom lip and tears beginning to pool in the eyes behind the glasses. 

Crap. He should have known. 

Neither of them was ready for this.

Not yet.

Jack gently took Daniel's hand again. They walked over to the tomb of Sultan-whatever-his-name-was and entered the gloomy building. The smell of dust and rotten... Jack wouldn't go there... took their breath away for a moment. But there was nobody living here. At least they couldn't see any furniture or people in the dim light coming through the high small windows.

"So. I'm sure I don't want to know. But how can someone be born before his own father?" he asked casual. 

If Daniel needed a few more minutes before he was able to face Pierson, so be it.

"It is a myth. Like Ra making Thoth and Shu..." 

"Shoe?"

"Shu. Like... like..." Suddenly, letting out a strangled gasp, Daniel turned to him and buried his face into Jack's jacket. "I... I... sorry..." he whispered.

"It's okay, buddy. It's just nerves."

Jack scooped him up into his arms and together they walked to a coffin, covered with colorful mosaics. Jack sat down on the stone pedestal beneath it, holding Daniel close to him. He could feel the kid taking a few deep breaths to calm down. "I'm not sure I can go see him. What does he want, Jack? And why now? I don't want to do this... but I want to do this. I'm not making sense. It comes so unexpected. I don't want to hope he's going to make me... big or something. In the end he might just tell me some crap again and all the hope was for nothing." 

"I know it's hard. But if we don't go, we won't find out, right?" Jack let his fingers stroke through Daniels soft hair. He felt him nod against his shoulder. "Look at it this way, Danny. You can't lose anymore. The worst thing that could happen is you having to stay the way you are. And we already know we can live with that."

"I know."

O'Neill held him a while longer and when Daniel pulled back, his eyes were dry. "We can do this," the kid said, trying to sound self confident. 

"You bet."

Taking Daniel's hand again, Jack walked them out of the tomb, leaving the dead bodies of Sultan... whoever... and his family behind.

The so called coffee shop was a narrow flat building with a hand painted sign over the open entrance, that read "Kahwa" which meant nothing more than "Coffee" or in this case "Coffee shop". The red paint was bleached out from the sun. It wasn't a tomb as far as Jack could tell. More like a hastily built loam and barrack, squatted between two tombs. There were three windows. The fourth one was sealed with wooden planks. On the others, the glass was broken or gone completely.

"Nice place," Jack snorted.

"Jack... I don't want to hold your hand when we go in there. Pierson knows." But at the same time his little hand seemed to grip Jack's even tighter, clutching around his fingers.

“How about I put my hand on your back? That way I can get hold of your collar if you get funny ideas?” Jack grinned at Daniel's frown. “I'm just cautious.” 

He let go of him and put his hand on Daniel's back instead. "Better?"

"Um, yeah. Okay. I guess."

*******

A Kahwa was the usual gathering spot for men in Egypt. Often, they were like local pubs in the West, where people from a specific neighborhood gather. Like in Paris and Greece, Kahwas were often sidewalk Cafés. The main item served in a Kahwa was the sheesha or hookah pipe. Those water pipes were very common.  The most commonly used substance was known as tobamel or maassel, which was a mixture of tobacco with a sweet substance like honey or molasses in it. 

That was why they were greeted by a heavy sweet smell when they entered this Kahwa. 

Daniel remembered having a few hookah experiences in college and on another planet where it had been an insult not to take the pipe offered to him. 

The smell of tobamel was overwhelming. A lazy ventilator whirled the heat and smells around without succeeding in bringing any fresh air into the dim room. Under the sweetness of the tobacco there was still the other smell of dirty bodies and garbage.

The hand on his back felt reassuring and once his eyes had gotten used to the gloominess, Daniel got aware of men sitting on old blankets or cushions, letting the hookah circle among them. An old guy without any teeth left in his mouth, was serving hot drinks in glasses, talking to himself or to the guests. 

"Let's find a... cushion," Jack muttered behind him.

In other parts of Cairo there were tables in the cafés. But here, in one of Cairo's poorest parts, the men were sitting cross legged on the floor.

There was no sign of Pierson.

They were half way across the room when the old toothless guy stopped them, pointing to Daniel and shaking his head.

"Sabi - la."

Daniel frowned. He knew children weren't allowed in a Kahwa. At least not in an old traditional one like this. This was no tourist area. He ignored it though and started talking to the man. First he asked him if there had been another Westerner here who had asked for them. He told him Pierson's name. When there was no sign of recognition or understanding on the old man's face, Daniel dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a few Egyptian pounds, barely opening his hand so the man could look at the coins but not grab them. 

The narrow dark eyes lit up with greed. Nobody could blame the old man for that. He must live a poor life here in the slums. To Daniel's surprise, the man leaned forward, and knotted hands snapped around Daniel's wrist with an amazing strength.

"Hey!" Grabbing Daniel's shoulders, Jack jerked him away from the old man. 

The old guy took a step forward. "Danyel?"

"Naem," Daniel nodded, tapping his chest. "Ana Daniel."

The Egyptian let go of him and waved them to follow. 

Daniel started walking, but didn't get far when a hand at his collar stopped him short. Jack bent down to him. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"I think we should trust him. Or maybe not. But we have to see what he wants. Pierson isn't here and that guy knows my name - so..."

"A hunch." Jack sighed.

"Yeah. Gonna trust me on it?"

Jack rubbed a hand through his hair. "Sure." 

They followed the old man across the room, feeling several pairs of eyes in their backs as they walked through a small door which led them outside into a narrow alley. And there, at a rusty bistro table with only three legs, sat Adam Pierson, a glass of Turkish mokka in front of him. When he spotted them exiting the Kahwa, he took off the headphones he was wearing. 

Daniel felt Jack's hand patting his back, grateful for the small gesture of support. A wild mixture of anger and suppressed hope rushed through him when he stared at the dark haired man who gave them a smile and gestured to the two other chairs at the table.

"Daniel." Then he paused and his brown eyes looked past him at Jack. For a moment, Daniel thought he saw something flicker in those eyes, but it was gone so fast he wasn't sure if it had really been there.

"Jack," Pierson said finally. "Be my guests. Tea? Coffee?"

"Cut the crap, Pierson," Jack snarled. "What do you want?"

"The Kahwamazboo is very good for example."

"That's... Turkish mokka with sugar," Daniel explained helpful. 

"I don't care," Jack replied, his eyes never leaving Pierson..

"Okay."

Pierson smirked at their little dialogue and took a sip from his mokka. When neither Jack nor Daniel made any attempt to sit down, SG-6’s former archaeologist rose from his chair and raised his right hand. "I’m going to turn the disc-man off. Is that all right with you, Colonel? I don't want you to get nervous."

With a broad smile, Jack whipped his gun out and aimed it at Pierson's head. "Go ahead. We don't want to waste the batteries," he said flippant.

"Jack!" Daniel tugged at the colonel’s arm.

"Daniel?"

"It's just a disc-man."

"I don't see a disc-man. Only a wide tunic. He could hide a sword in it."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "A sword?"

"Or a big honkin' gun."

Pierson's hand vanished into his white tunic and pulled out a small disc-man. He switched it off and put it on the table. "Queen," he said. "My favorite. 'A Night at the Opera.'”

"Yeah, but you didn't want to meet so you could show us your CD collection," Daniel said, taking a step forward.

"I'd be happy to do so. Are you still listening to opera, Jack? I have a close friend, who is into that kind of... music. You should meet," Pierson answered casual l y as he sat down again.

"Pierson," Jack snapped. "Either you tell us what you want or we're out of here."

"Nonono... wait a minute, Jack. I had no idea you know each other so... well." Daniel turned and looked at his friend.

"We’ve met," Jack replied snidely.

"Yeah. Doctor Pierson mentioned that to me. And you talked about... music?" Daniel asked, raising his eyebrows in puzzlement.

"Actually we didn't talk much about anything. But you are right, Daniel. We aren't here to make small talk," Pierson interrupted them. He took another sip of mokka and told the old man, who was still standing near the entrance, to leave them alone.

Daniel didn't fail to notice that Pierson was fluent in Egyptian Arabic. 

Once the Egyptian had left, Pierson offered them seats again. This time, Daniel sat down on one of the old chairs and after a brief moment of hesitation, Jack tucked his gun away and joined them.

Pierson smiled. "Now this is much better. So, Just Daniel - how are you doing?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "What do you want?"

"I'm interested in your progress of translating the writings on the planet. Were you able to find the right language?"

Daniel stared at the calm lean man. He realized Pierson wasn't the man who had tailed them at the museum. And he didn't fit into the description of what the man from the hotel had told them either. That man had been Egyptian. And the man at the museum... well that was hard to tell. But he seemed to be a bit taller and built more broadly. 

"It's Inuit," he blurted out. “The language related to the alien writings in Tink-ah's cave. It has to be Inuit.” 

"What?" That came from Jack.

Pierson raised his eyebrows. "You're good."

"It's just a wild guess right now. Inuit is the only language I didn't bring in context with the writings.”

"You could work with Inuit to begin with. What you are really looking for is an obscure dialect. Comes from the Dorset culture which had lived in Arctic North America before the Inuits came along," the other man said.

Daniel knitted his eyebrows, trying to remember what he knew about the Dorset culture. He shook his head slowly. "That can't be right. The Dorset Culture preceded the Inuit culture. I know they were also called the Tuniit or Sivullirmiut - which meant ’First Inhabitants.' But they were supposed to be Giants, not dwarfs like Svartil. Much taller and stronger than the Inuit. But very shy. They backed off from the advancing Inuit." 

Which had been one of the reasons why he’d never really given Inuit a serious try. Until he had met Anna. It had taken him a while to recognize the language she had used as she bitched at him. But when she'd told them where she came from he had known what it was. Only he hadn't associated Inuit with Tink-ah's language because it sounded vastly different. But then Tink-ah's people didn't necessarily speak the same dialect as the Svartál had. 

Pierson nodded. "The Dorset people might have been Giant s. But they who had come from Svartfálheim were dwarfs who used to live among them for a very long time. The language of the Svartál and Dorset got mingled over time. So did the myth. The Dorset believed them to be god-like creatures, but in reality the Svartàls were greedy little folks. They lived in the mountains, searching for gold and other valuable things. The Dorset people - who were from Earth - feared the dwarfs because they were able to do ’magic.' Like healing people. They were able to make wounds disappear. But they were also able to shoot lightning fire that brought death. And they were leaving Earth in strange looking objects that could fly."

"Ships. They had ships," Daniel muttered.

"Hey, wait a minute. You told us they never built their own ships," Jack snapped.

"They used the Stargate in Antarctica. But they traded soil treasures for ships at a later point, I think. However, they used to leave and then return with wondrous things the Dorset had never seen. Technologies, weapons... who knows? They must have had good ships since we know there had been war between the Svartàls and the Asgard once. We don't know how it happened. But the Dorset people took over the language of the Svartàls and their mythology surrounding the Yggdrasil being the world tree. The Dorset people didn't survive. We don't know if they were wiped out by the dwarfs or simply ceased to exist like other Earth cultures," Pierson said. 

After a pause he continued. "When the alliance against the Goa'uld was built, the Svartàls weren't welcome because the Ancients and the Asgard believed they weren't worthy to join the treaty as one of the leading races. After a hearing, all four members of the alliance came to the conclusion that the Svartàls could not be trusted. Shortly after that they left Earth and never returned. But it is said that one of them found the Eagle stone and turned the Yggdrasil statue into some kind of transformer. The Svartál always hated their physical limits due to their little height. The Yggdrasil statue would help them to turn into grown men and woman.”

“But it didn't work very well. Svartil told me lots of those who had tried died and most of those who managed to grow up couldn't have children,” Daniel said.

“The women became sterile due to the upsizing. But the men took mates from another world and so they ensured not all of their civilization was lost,” Pierson confirmed

“ Tink-ah's people are the result of that. The Svartál are th eir ancestors,” Daniel said.

“Yes. And Tink’ah’s people despise the Svartál because they were greedy and evil. Svartil was the only one left of the old race, to guard the statue. But the Eagle stone was lost and still is to this day on another planet.” 

"All right. That's all very nice," Jack interjected impatiently. "What the hell do you have to offer? You got that stone?"

Pierson took his time to answer. He drank more mokka, then leaned back in his chair and gazed at Jack. There it was again. Daniel wasn't imagining this. The glittering in the brown eyes of Adam Pierson. Was it amusement? Or was it... 

"Nothing to offer, Jack. Nothing for Daniel at least," was the soft spoken answer. 

Daniel felt his mouth drop open. This couldn't be real. No way was it like it seemed to be. Pierson wasn't coming on to Jack... 

But he was. And Jack got the message, too. Daniel saw his eyes narrow. But he snapped out of it so fast, as if it hadn't happened. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't  shoot you," he sniped.

"I told you, I've got news for Daniel. That wasn't a lie. But it’s not particularly good news," Pierson answered, his eyes never leaving Jack's face.

"I’m right here just in case you forgot," Daniel heard himself say in a cold crisp voice. He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, glaring at the Englishman. 

When Pierson looked at him, his eyes were neutral again, if not pitiful. "I am sorry, Daniel. I wish I could congratulate you for figuring out the language that will help you to use the Yggdrasil - and might lead you to the missing eagle stone. But I'm afraid it isn't that easy. And I actually came here to tell you to stop investigating."

“What? You want me to stop looking for the stone? Why?”

“Because it is not meant to be.” 

"Not 'meant to be'? What does that mean?”

When Adam Pierson spoke again, his voice was serious and urgent, the playful smile completely gone. "I am not allowed to interfere any more in the whole thing than I already have. All you need to know is that there's a prophecy involving you and the Yggdrasil. Listen, kid... sorry... Daniel - Normally I don't care much about what people tell me to do. But this once it was very convincing. I can't give you more than that. You have to trust me. You're not to use the Yggdrasil to get big. Not yet."

"Oma. You talked to Oma." It was just a hint. But somehow he knew, he was right. 

"She's involved." 

"Who else is in this?" Jack looked pissed now. Daniel couldn't blame him. If Oma had something to do with this, it was a big deal. 

Pierson cocked his head and blinked into the afternoon sun while he continued thoughtfully, "Another powerful woman. One I’ve known for... a very long time. I was told to get the statue and other parts of the foresight. But they wouldn't tell me all the details. I knew the Yggdrasil's loaction, but I had to wait for the right timing - which was when SG-1 went there."

"So you used me to get it," Daniel said bitter.

"Yes. And no. You were meant to find it. I was meant to keep it."

"And your name is Rumpelstiltskin," Jack snorted.

"I wasn't able to get into that doorway. Only you could have done it, Daniel. And I was told you would. But I didn't know you'd get lost - I had no idea about Svàrtil or what the valley of the dwarfs would be like. I read as much of the walls as I could when we arrived on the planet. I knew it was in there. I also knew enough about what it was capable of doing. I knew it would be able to make you a man again. I didn't know the stone was missing, though."

"Then whoever did this prophecy, didn't do their homework very well," Jack pointed out sarcastically.

"I told you, I didn't get all the details," Pierson snapped back. “I'm merely the one doing the dirty work. I had to push you in the right direction, nothing more. Interfering is a big no-no with the Others.” 

"Don't play mind games with me, Pierson. I don't have time for that. Are you telling me you followed us to Egypt just so you can tell me; sorry, but you won't get big again because of some obscure prophecy? Are you here to help me, or is this just to amuse you?"

"I’d hardly risk my own neck just to amuse myself, Doctor Jackson," Pierson said. Now he sounded annoyed. "I have no desire to get  shot by our US Air Force hero here, either."

"Then stop beating around the bush. Spill," Jack chimed in. 

"And would I sit here, sipping mokka while I could sit in Paris and have a cool one - just because I find it so amusing?" Pierson asked, ignoring Jack for the moment.

"There's beer in Egypt," Jack muttered. "Stuff's not that bad."

Pierson let out a sigh. "Not in this establishment, I'm afraid. No alcohol here. The modern coffee shops serve beer though. We should have met at the Khan el Khaili. There are much more appealing places to have a chat over a beer. Do you know the The Fishaawi at Medan el Hussein?"

"Never heard of it."

"It's famous. Nice people there, too," Pierson pointed out.

"Oh yeah? Checked it out?"

"Occasionally."

"TMI, Pierson."

"Really? I'm just talking about beer here. And I know you like beer, too."

Jack leaned forward, glaring at Pierson over the dirty old table. "Knock it off! Besides, it was your freaky idea to meet here."

"Budweiser was it, right?"

"I changed the brand."

Daniel felt the heat of anger creep into his cheeks. Before he knew what he was doing, he said, "Actually he changed his drinking habit. He's more into whiskey these days."

Both pair of eyes stared at him. Jack opened his mouth - surely to tell him that wasn't true - but Daniel gave him a dirty smile and added: "Jack Daniel's. Does it for him. Can't live without it."

Pierson's eyes widened just for a second. "Is he addicted?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

Jack leaned back in his seat again, rolling his eyes.

Daniel wanted to wipe this self satisfied smile off Pierson's smooth face. He wanted to slug him for coming on to Jack and for letting Daniel's hopes down again. 

And all this because Oma and some other woman had made some kind of warped prophecy about him? He remembered Oma's words about how he had to choose his journey... Daniel felt like a chessboard figure. Weren't they all just pawns? And what role was Adam Pierson playing in it? What was he holding back? Why was he sitting here, telling him all this - and yet telling him nothing at all. 

Instead he was flirting with Jack. Was trying to banter with him.

Right.

Daniel looked Pierson hard in the face. Play time was over as far as he was concerned. And right now he didn't care how old he looked or sounded. "I want answers. I want them now. And stop coming on to him. You can't have him. He's mine."

Pierson didn't even blink. But there was mild surprise in his voice when he asked, "Honestly?"

"Wanna bet?"

*******

Jack sat up straight in his chair, staring at Daniel in disbelief.

Shit.

"Daniel," he hissed.

Daniel gave him an icy look. And there was really nothing funny about an angry possessive eight year old who just told the other guy at the table to stop flirting with "his" colonel.

"Jack?"

"Will you stop that?"

"What?"

"That!"

"Stop staring at him," Daniel demanded, his tone as low and growling as it could get before he was reaching the age of voice changing.

Staring? Jack wasn't staring. Glaring, oh yes. Because that bastard was playing with both their minds. Well, maybe it was time to bring this conversation back on track. "Let's get back on topic here, shall we? Statue, getting big, fancy language, prophecies - Pierson? Daniel?"

"Where is the Yggdrasil?" Daniel asked Pierson in the same cold sharp voice he had used before. A voice that sounded so strange, almost as if somebody else was talking through Daniel.

"You can't use it."

" _Why_ can't I?" Now Daniel looked dangerous. Eight or not. He was good. He was really good. How did he let all the childishness disappear in situations like this? When on other occasions he acted and looked like an eight year old, despite the fact he wasn't? 

Pierson seemed to sense it, too. That, or he was getting tired of his own game. His next answer was short, the sarcasm gone. "Meaning of life, the existence and safety of Earth... much at stake in the great big picture, so to speak. I am only the bearer of the bad news, playing devil’s advocate."

Jack hardly kept himself from letting his fist make contact with Pierson's face. Wasn't that what he'd wanted to do for some time now?

Beating the crap out of the guy who had sent Danny down into that temple? No matter if he meant any harm or not. No matter if it had been foreseen or not. Oh yeah, sure, Pierson had helped to get him back in the end. No big deal, right? It had just been another obstacle to stumble over, another fucking nightmare to deal with for the kid. Jack gritted his teeth again. Only his military training kept him from pulling Pierson over the table and give some dentist lots of work to do. No. Make that a cosmetic surgeon. 

Like Daniel, he kept his face straight and his voice quiet. "Listen, pal. I have no idea what you're talking about. And frankly - I couldn't care less. You have that statue somewhere. Hand it over. Because I..."

When Daniel raised his hand to stop him, Jack felt his mouth snap shut against his will. 

"What do you mean about the existence and safety of Earth? I want to know what kind of role I have in all this. What does that prophecy say?"

Pierson raised his eyebrows. "That is something I can't answer. Okay, I could. Partly. But I was told not to. Because if you immediately know the candlelight is fire... well, you know all that nonsense mother nature tells us."

Jack saw Daniel's eyes grow big. "Do you know what it means?"

But instead of giving him an answer, Pierson suddenly rose in one swift movement and pointed down the narrow alley in front of them. "Listen. I already spent enough time in this story. It's time for me to move on. I was told to show you where the statue is. But you can't take it. I can't keep you from learning Inuit and trying to translate everything you need to find the eagle stone. But give me your word, Daniel, that you won't use it unless the time is right.”

“If you don't want me to use it why are you showing me where it is? That makes no sense,” Daniel said, puzzled.

“Because you would track me down sooner or later. And I can't have that happening. Or you would find it on your own. And that can't happen either. We decided you need to know. In order to understand and leave it alone. Somebody will keep an eye on it for you. And when the time is right, you can come back and get it. But for now you have to leave it alone."

Without waiting for an answer, Pierson started to walk down the alley.

O'Neill so wanted to kick him to Netu. But this was Daniel's game and when the kid started follow ing the Brit, Jack joined him, keeping his eyes and ears open. Everything screamed at him to grab Daniel and get the hell out of this ghetto. But this wasn't the instincts of the leader of SG-1. Not the gut feeling of his military trained mind. It was the simple protective streak in him. But he knew that for once he had to stomp his own need to protect Daniel down. 

He needed to focus.

Needed to set his own mixed up feelings about Pierson aside, needed not to think about what could happen to Danny - the child - in this place. Needed to get his brain together and see things clearly. He could do that. 

And he did.

Daniel was the lead in this and Jack's job was to watch his six. 

Right now there was no immediate danger. When they had passed under several dark archways, he could almost smell they were being tailed and watched, but he hadn't expected anything less in a neighborhood like this. So the question wasn't who or why - because that was obvious. Guys from the Kahwa who were going for money. The question was; when would they come out of the shadows.  _Well_ , Jack thought,  _let them come_ . He was prepared.

He moved closer to Pierson. "We're being tailed. Friends of yours?"

"No. Probably thugs who want our money."

So he'd been right. "Any chance to get rid of them?"

Instead of an answer, Pierson slipped under another archway and all of a sudden they were standing in front of the cemetery of Sultan... Jack couldn't for the world remember the name. But it was the one where they had been before. They entered and, in silence, walked over to the coffins. Jack realized there were two others in the shadowy back of the room. Pierson stepped between them and crouched. With some effort he pulled out one of the big stones at the foot of the pedestal. He reached into the opening under the coffin and, a moment later, handed them flashlights.

"Come," he whispered and, with Daniel’s help, pushed the stone back into place while Jack stood guard in front of the coffins. But nobody had come in after them -yet.

They crossed the tomb to its back wall. Jack could see more partly destroyed mosaics and another small coffin. That sultan must have had a rather big family. 

"Daniel, come here," Pierson ordered the boy. "I'll show you how to get in here. Press these two stones with your palms."

Jack watched as Daniel put his hands on said stones. With a dull creak the coffin swayed back and underneath a dark entrance appeared. O'Neill let his flashlight scurry over roughly hewn stone steps leading down into darkness. 

"The Yggdrasil is down there. I will go first. Let's make it quick All I want is to get out of the country and leave all this behind. I prefer a quiet life without all the hassle," Pierson muttered and started walking, holding his own flashlight in front of him.

When they were halfway down the stairs, Pierson once again turned to Daniel and let his light shine over the old limestone walls. "See the two prints here? That's how you close and open the doorway from here."

Daniel pressed his palms to the stones and the coffin swung back over their heads, closing the entry.

"What kind of technology is this door mechanism?" Daniel asked puzzled.

Pierson shrugged. "I have no idea. Something the Goa'uld collected, maybe." 

"Is there another exit?" Jack asked. He had pulled out his gun again before entering this catacomb, and was now waving it at the dark walls.

"No. Follow me."

They went  into a narrow tunnel until they reached a small chamber.

"I didn't know there were catacombs underneath Cairo," Daniel said amazed. 

"It is not a big complex. It's from the Roman times. I don't remember exactly what its purpose was," Pierson mumbled. That guy almost sounded like he had been there. 

In the middle of the chamber sat a statue, made from limestone like the walls. It showed a guard or something. Jack didn’t really care. All he wanted was to get out of here. This place was a damn trap. 

Pierson handed his flashlight to the kid who put it into his jacket. Then Daniel was holding his own light for Pierson, who put both hands around the statue’s neck and turned it to the left, then to the right, until he was able to remove the head. He placed it next to the statue on the ground, then reached inside the hollow body and retrieved the Yggdrasil.

It was the golden statue of a tree as far as Jack could see. Daniel reached for it and when Pierson wouldn't let go, the kid brushed over the honed branches and roots with his free hand.

"So you know it's here now," Pierson said.

"We'll take it with us," Daniel demanded. "We can keep it safe at the SGC."

Jack, who was standing guard at the entrance to the tunnel, couldn't believe that no one had come after them. He knew there had been someone tailing them the whole time since they left the Kahwa.

Now he looked back over his shoulder and said, "Give him the tree, Pierson."

"I can't."

Jack spun around, aiming his gun at the other man's head. "Yes. You can."

"Right, O'Neill, what are you going to do? Blow my head off? I don't think so," Pierson said annoyed. He was still holding the statue in both hands.

"If I have to," Jack answered, meaning it.

"Listen. I told you, I'd show you where it is so you'll be able to find it again, just in case something might happen to the guy who looks after it  for you . But it has to stay here until Daniel can use it. He needs to wait. A lot is at stake here. A whole lot more than just his lost adulthood and not being able to have sex with you, Jack. And believe me when I say I’m sorry. For both of you." There was real sympathy in his low voice.

"Yeah, well. That's nice. Just hand the statue over, will ya," Jack sniped. 

"It has to stay here. It will be guarded until Daniel returns," Pierson tried again to convince them.

Daniel frowned. "Why? And how do I know when the time is right?"

"You will know. Believe me."

“Quiet!” Jack silenced them with a wave of his hand. In the stillness that followed, they all heard footsteps. Jack whipped around, to face the tunnel. The next thing he saw was a blue beam of light. He threw himself out of the line of fire, firing into the darkness as he yelled out a warning. But the blast knocked him off his feet and he felt his back hit the wall before the world around him turned into a haze of red agony and pain.

*******

Daniel leaped behind the statue when the Zat was fired at Jack. He felt his heart pound in his chest as he tri ed to make himself as small as possible behind the stone figure.

There was another lamp lit in the chamber now. Something stronger than a flashlight. The other guy must have brought an oil lamp with him. 

Then he heard Pierson talk to their attacker. He sounded distressed. "What are you doing here?"

Daniel could hear a whispered answer. But the voice was so low he didn't understand anything the other man said. Pierson wasn't happy with the way things were going. "Damn. Are you sure? I had everything under control. Get the hell out of here before  they see you."

There was a long silence and Daniel started to move very carefully. He needed to see who had zatted Jack. 

The other man spoke again in a hushed voice. Daniel frowned, but he didn't get a word. Obviously the man had asked for him, because Pierson answered, "He's hiding. You better go now. You know the rules. Go! I'll take care of it."

Daniel bit his lower lip and crawled around the feet of statue on his hands and knees. Only parts of the chamber were  illuminate d  by  the l amp . He could see a lantern on the ground as he peered around the sturdy legs of the stone guard. A figure in a wide tunic with head dress was kneeling next to Jack. There was something vaguely familiar about that guy. But Daniel couldn't see his face. 

He tried to see what the stranger was doing to Jack. But Pierson suddenly stepped in the way. "Leave him. I have to talk to the kid before that stubborn son of a bitch comes around. He's going to be all over me. There's not much time."

Daniel crept further around the statue. His fingers reached the clunky head still lying on the ground. Without making a sound he tried to pick it up.

Teal'c had taught him how to move around like this. They had practiced Ninjutsu, which was kind of a ninja fighting technique. Teal'c had combined this with several other Asiatic and Jaffa martial arts. He was teaching Daniel how to balance his weaknesses like little height with his strength like being much more flexible and agile now. He remembered the lessons about Awareness and Stealth.

Awareness was the ability to use all his senses. Like identifying someone by the sound of his footfalls. Picking someone’s face out of a crowded place with a quick glance. Reading lips. Detecting concealed weapons. Casing a location for burglary in just a few minutes. Seeing one hundred yards on a clear, moonlit night....

Okay, they still had a lot of work to do on that one. But Daniel had already learned some things.

Stealth was covering the ability to avoid notice, move quietly, trail someone and generally evade detection. Avoiding being noticed by hiding in deep shadow. Walking silently across a marble floor. Sneaking up on an alert guard. Walking silently across a floor covered with walnut shells. Sneaking up on an alert dog.

That was what he needed now.

He had failed in walking on the floor covered with nuts without making noise. Cassie’s dog had sniffed him miles before he even could sneak up on him. Every time.

But he had practiced. 

Deep shadows.

That should work.

But hefting the stone head in completely silence and crashing it at Pierson? And how was he going to handle that other guy? Daniel felt his hands going sweaty. The head was too heavy for him. 

Pierson’s voice became urgent as he t o l d the stranger to leave once more.

Daniel got an idea. He had Pierson's flashlight in his jacket. And in the beam of the oil lamp on the floor, he saw something lit up for a moment. Not far from his position was Jack's gun. It had slipped his fingers and skidded across the floor when the Zat had hit Jack.

Carefully, Daniel pulled the flashlight from his jacket. When he was sure that neither of the other men had heard him, he crept a little further. Perfect. Biting hard on his lower lip and concentrating on being absolutely quiet, he tossed the flashlight in the direction of the stranger. He didn't hit him of course. Didn't even want to. The loud bang as it crashed on the stone floor was all he needed to distract them. 

Both men spun around and focused on the noise. Daniel used that moment to leave his cover. Before Pierson or his companion could react, he threw himself at Jack's gun. 

Holding the weapon in both hands, he rolled around on his back and aimed at the stranger. He was aware that Pierson was most likely armed, too. But the other guy had a Zat and was more of a danger right now.

"Hand the Zat over and move to the wall," Daniel yelled, jumping to his feet, holding the gun steadily.

Pierson let out a sigh and took a step back to the wall next to the entrance. Then one of his hands left the Yggdrasil and snapped into his tunic. Daniel raised the gun. 

His arms and hands weren't shaking. 

"I am going to fire," he said calmly. And he would. If he really had to he would give a warning shot. Nothing more. There was no doubt and no fear in him. He assessed the situation without any hesitation. He would fire and he wouldn't let Pierson and his companion get away. "This isn't a kid's toy. And I'm not in the mood to play."

Somewhere beside him he heard Jack move and groan.

Pierson's friend slowly lowered the Zat to the floor, then kicked it over to Daniel with his right foot.

Daniel bent in his knees and picked the weapon up with one hand. The Zat was much easier for him to handle. Very carefully he tucked Jack's gun into his jacket and aimed the Zat at Pierson and his friend.

"What are you going to do now, Daniel?" Pierson called from the other end of the room. The shine of the lamp in the middle of it didn't reach them entirely. Daniel wasn't able to see their faces. But he could see the Yggdrasil shimmering. Pierson was still holding it. 

"We'll wait until Jack wakes up and then we'll walk out of here together. With the Yggdrasil," Daniel snapped.

"I have no desire to be in your way. But there are two powerful beings who want you to stay just the way you are. And I can't give you details because it is against the laws of.... everything," Pierson tried again. 

"Who? Who, besides Oma is into this?" Daniel demanded to know.

Next to him, Jack let out another groan and tried to get up. But the boy didn't let that distract him. His eyes were fixed on Pierson and the other guy. 

"I'm not sure you know her. Have you ever heard of Cassandra, the Witch of the Donan Woods?"

Daniel blinked. "She's a myth. Born and adopted by Hijad, a healer. They lived in a nomad tribe somewhere in Sinai. Her tribe was invaded and killed by another myth called the ’Horsemen, the four riders of the apocalypse'. Cassandra is believed to have been stabbed by one of them and died. But she came back again and again, since she was immortal. She was later believed to live in the Donan Woods in Scotland. There are lots of myths surrounding her."

"She is no myth. Like Oma, she is very real," Pierson said.

"So she is what...? An alien?"

"She made the prophecy. And Oma confirmed it. I happen to be the one in the middle. I was cornered. And now all I want is getting out of here."

"Daniel?" Jack croaked next to him. Daniel let his eyes dart over to his friend for just a second. 

"I'm fine." He took a step away from the wall and tried to get a better look at the two men's faces. 

Jack was muttering curses about his head and stood, letting out another moan. Then he was suddenly behind Daniel, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Daniel? You have my gun?"

"Yeah. I needed it to make them give me the Zat," he reported. His voice started shaking when he suddenly realized what he had almost done. He hadn't fired a weapon in a year. He had practiced weapon training at the SGC with a Zat so that he could get used to firing it from anoth er perspective. Being so much shorter put almost everything in another perspective. But he'd never fired other handguns since he was shr unk. 

He suddenly realized that if he had fired the gun, he might have accidentally shot either Pierson or the other man. He just wasn't used to play with guns anymore. Was that like riding a bicycle? Once you knew how to do it, you’d never forget? But the recoil would be harder to deal with now that he was small... He expected Jack to yell at him for taking the gun. 

But Jack squeezed his shoulders and very slowly Daniel leaned back against the solid body. It was so subtle that nobody else noticed it. But for his eight year old self it was all the support he needed at the moment.

"Where is it, Daniel?" 

"Jacket. Inside pocket." 

Jack reached inside Daniel's jacket, retrieving his weapon. "I'd say you are overruled. Hand the tree over."

The man in the tunic turned to Pierson and held out his hands. 

Pierson shook his head. They looked at each other and there seemed to be a silent dialogue going on. After what seemed to be eternity, Daniel saw Pierson hand the Yggdrasil over to the other guy, who then slowly came over to them.

"Ah! That's close enough," Jack said, tensed. "Put it down there and back off. Daniel - go, get it."

Daniel handed the Zat to Jack and walked over to where the golden statue was sitting. As he bent down to pick it up he heard Jack snap a warning. "Daniel!"

He looked up and right at the man in the tunic who had come closer again. Most of his face was hidden in the deep shadow of his hood. But Daniel could see enough of it to recognize him.

He almost dropped the statue. 

Frozen, he stared at the other man.

"Daniel, get back here," Jack snarled behind him.

But Daniel couldn't move. "How?" he whispered, his heart drumming a staccato in his chest. “Jack," he managed hoarsely.

"What?"

"He's... he's..."

Then Pierson was at his side and took the statue out of his numb hands again. Daniel didn't hear the argument going on behind him. He was fixated on the stranger, who was gazing right back at him. 

**XI**

O'Neill aimed at Pierson, who carried the statue over to the stone guard. Daniel was still frozen in front of the man in the tunic, gazing up at him as though he was hypnotized. 

"I am putting it away. And you’re going to put down your gun," Pierson said.

"Not so fast. What's going on?" Jack demanded to know, nodding at Daniel and the mysterious guy.

"I'm not your enemy. Neither is he."

"No? And I should believe this - why exactly?"

Crap. 

Jack couldn't attack Pierson. He still had the statue and if that thing fell down and got damaged, Daniel would maybe lose his last hope to reverse his downsizing. And he couldn't shoot at the other man either because Daniel was standing in his line of fire. 

Time for some advice here.

"Daniel, what's with him?" Jack asked tersely.

"I... I don't... Don't shoot." 

“All right. Pierson - put the statue away," Jack said wearily.

The archaeologist nodded and placed the Yggdrasil back inside the sculpture. As soon as he had put the head back on the stone guard, Jack zatted him.

That problem solved, he leaped forward and pulled Daniel back while he aimed the Zat at Pierson's friend.

*******

Daniel felt Jack grab his collar as he was pulled out of the way.

He saw Pierson lying on the ground and then the Zat was fired over his head. The stranger dart ed sidewards, spun around and left. 

Jack let go of Daniel, firing again.

"Stop it, Jack," Daniel yelled, falling into the arm holding the Zat.

The blast missed the corridor and hit the wall.

They heard footsteps echoing in the corridor, running away from them.

"Daniel," Jack yelled, grabbing his jacket collar again. "You better have a damn good reason for doing that!" 

“Let him go... let..." Daniel sobbed, suddenly losing it. 

His legs gave out under him and he sagged against Jack, who instantly let go of his collar and caught him around his middle. He crouched and hugged him to his chest. 

"Okay, okay... shhh... I'm sorry I yelled," Jack soothed, patting Daniel's head with one hand while holding him with his other arm. Daniel could feel the rifle of the Zat poking into his back. 

He clutched his hands at Jack's jacket, trying to take deep breaths as he pressed his face into Jack's chest. 

It couldn't have been real. 

He must have hallucinated.

This wasn't possible. 

It was nerves. Nothing else. He wasn't used to this anymore. And he'd lost it. He had a breakdown in the middle of a situation and he had seen... things that weren't real. 

So he screwed up. Well done, Jackson.

"Sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Come on. Let's get that statue and then we're out of here," Jack said, patting his head some more.

That was when they heard the voices.

*******

O'Neill hugged the kid with one arm and huddled against the wall next to the entrance of the chamber. When he peered around the corner, there was a dim light at the end of the corridor now. Apparently the coffin wasn't back in place after the silent guy had left. Angry voices were coming from above. He couldn't make out anything. But it meant their way out was blocked somehow. 

Tough choice.

"Hey, kiddo. I have to go and see what's going on out there," Jack whispered, nudging Daniel. 

"'kay," Daniel said, swallowing hard.

Jack crouched in front of him. He placed his free hand on Danny's shoulder and squeezed encouragingly. "You are doing great. I need you to hang in there just a little while longer. Can you do that? I'll be back in no time. But someo ne has to watch Pierson."

He nodded. 

There was more riot outside. Yelling and fighting. 

"Give me the Zat," Daniel said, his voice more steady again.

"Are you sure you're okay using the Zat on Pierson again if he wakes up? Just make him immobile for a while longer? It won’t kill him if you wait long enough for the effects of the last shot to go away."

The kid's eyes narrowed. He took the Zat from Jack's hand. "Yes. Go."

Jack patted his face and got up. "Sweet."

Then he jogged down the dark corridor.

*******

Daniel gripped the weapon tight and watched him leave. 

"Is he gone?" came Pierson's voice from behind him.

Daniel whipped around. "Stay where you are or I'll zat you again." 

"I won't move. But listen to me..."

Daniel aimed at Pierson, who sat up and leaned against the sturdy legs of the sculpture.

The Brit rubbed his temple and looked up at him. "They are here already."

"You know what's going on?" Daniel asked sharply.

Pierson grimaced and nodded. "Yes. They are after the statue. But I thought we had more time. Well... maybe it's meant to be."

"Jack’s taking care of it. The other guy escaped. But we will get him, too," Daniel snapped.

Pierson shook his head. “You got it all wrong.”

*******

Jack climbed the old stairs. The entrance was free. But he heard the noises of a fistfight going on somewhere in the tomb. Harsh breathing, yelling and sounds of quick movement. Creeping up the last stairs on hands and knees, he poked his head out of the opening. In the golden dusty afternoon light flooding through the tomb's entrance and the high small windows, he could make out three men. There was a tall skinny one with a knife trying to stab  Pierson’s silent companion. Another was blocking the way to the entrance to keep silent guy from escaping. Then Jack noticed an older man, lying unconscious between the two other coffins. Those were most likely the guys that had tailed them. 

Silent guy, who was wearing desert colored robes... tunics, and knife guy were circling each other. 

Watching the fight for a moment, Jack noticed silent guy was fast. He avoided the knife that was stabbed at him easily and managed not to turn his back on the other mugger for too long. Somehow the way he moved was familiar and distracted Jack just for a moment.

But it was the moment too long. Another guy must have been hidden behind the coffin.

When he was jumped, Jack lost his balance and fell down some of the stairs. His gun skidded away and he got punched in the face several times before he managed to get rid of his attacker by throwing him further down into the darkness of the tunnel.

The bastard let out a yell, but didn't move once he'd hit the bottom of the stairs. Now that the attention of the others were drawn to him, O'Neill left his cover. One of the Egyptians came at him, yelling something in Arabic. Jack rammed his elbow into the guy and pushed him off, then went after him, ready to slam his fist into his face, when...

"Jack! Look out!"

What the hell... There was no time to stop or think... He reacted on autopilot, spun around just as the skinny rat attacked him with the knife. Kicking his wrist, Jack sent the knife flying and skidding over the paved floor. 

Yelling and swearing, the guy came back at Jack and they went down in a tangle of arms and legs. 

It didn't take long. The Egyptian might have been experienced in street fighting and mugging people, but Jack had him down, arms on his back, in a minute. Being Special Ops and well trained in hand-to-hand had its advantages.

Panting harshly he grabbed the string that was offered to him and tied the guy up. There was blood running down Jack's nose and he wiped it away with the sleeve of his jacket while he worked with the string. His attacker was moaning and groaning in pain. 

Finally, Jack looked up.

By now the other mugger was on the floor and tied up, too, a few feet away.

Silent guy – who apparently could talk after all - tucked the knife into his tunic. During the fight his hood had been pushed back and revealed a brown bandana and shaggy dark blond hair. 

Jack stumbled to his feet and wiped more blood from his nose. "Hey – thanks."

What else could he say?

He got a lopsided smile in return. "Will you stop trying to kill me now?"

Wincing at the pain in his head, Jack blinked at the figure in front of him. “Depends.”

Maybe he'd hit his head too hard? He walked around the man, then tugged at the tunic.

"I'm... here. I'm real," the guy said.

"Just checking."

They gazed at each other for a moment, confused brown eyes meeting slightly amused blue ones. Finally, Jack groaned and rubbed his head. "Ya think this is weird? Because I think it is," he muttered. 

"Uh... yeah. Pretty weird."

They both turned when they heard footsteps coming from inside the catacombs. Daniel appeared in the dark entrance, his face dusty and pinched. He was accompanied by a sourly looking Adam Pierson, who was holding the Yggdrasil in his hands. 

"Jack! Are you okay?" 

The kid came running over and stopped short before him, taking in the bleeding nose and whatever bruises there were on Jack’s face. He  waggled his eyebrows, then winced.  "I'll live. You?"

"Fine. I couldn't zat Pierson, though. I think he has a point or two about the whole..." He paused and slowly turned to look at... 

Daniel.

A Daniel minus the glasses, but definitely a Daniel. A very grown up Daniel. 

And adult Daniel was staring back at little Daniel, that familiar puzzled look on his face. Gaping mouth, big eyes and everything. Jack didn't have to look at his Danny to know the same expression was mirrored on his face. 

It was... odd.

Then Pierson stepped between them. "I take it that the statue isn't safe here anymore." 

That got Daniel - the big one - out of his torpidity. "No. We have to find a new place. These guys here have seen the entrance. And calling the police is useless. So we have to let them go. But the statue can't stay here. Neither can we. There will be others... come on."

Pierson hid the statue under his wide tunic and was already on his way out, when Daniel - the short one – said, "Wait... who are you. I mean, I know who you seem to be, but... how?"

"Later. I'll answer all the questions later. We have to get out of here first." Big Daniel waved at them to follow him.

Together they left the tomb and stepped into another alley, then crossed a wide unpaved street crowded with people. Jack grabbed Daniel's collar and pulled him close, his hand tightening on the small shoulder.

Big Daniel led them through the passengers and explained, "It's the  _ suq al guma’a _ or ’Friday Market.' It lures thousands of Cairo’s poorest people here every week so they can both buy and sell almost any kind of junk, trinket, or treasure, at a price they can all afford. It's crowded, but if somebody is still after us they'll have have a hard time following."

"I heard of the market," Danny mumbled.

Of course he had.

Jack had seen similar markets in Baghdad in another life. 

Even the smells were the same. They crossed a motorcycle stacked with dozens of camel legs which sat beside huge buckets filled with goat, donkey and sheep entrails. Large pails of cow liver and raw fat stood in the sun, while women and men with blood up to their elbows yelled back and forth, bargaining with potential buyers. 

“Liver! Stomach! Intestines!” a black-clad woman shouted in Egyptian while she pushed her way through the crowd, carrying a dirty plastic bucket atop her head swarming with flies.

"God," Jack choked.

Even Danny looked a little green around his gills.

The mass of people was so thick that they were herded into one direction or another almost against their wills. Jack let go of Daniel's shoulder and took his hand firmly in his. 

Damn. He wished he was geared up, P90 and all. 

"Jack..." Daniel started, his eyes darting to his counterpart. "I can stay close without..."

"You give me a fight over this and I'll carry you the rest of the way," Jack warned tersely while he tried not to lose Pierson and Jackson in the crowd. There were times where he would put Daniel's need for independence and dignity over safety. However, this wasn't one of those times. Back at the coffee shop things had been manageable. Here it was like a beehive. 

And for once, Daniel didn't talk back. He just gave him a weary look and then they moved forward again.

There was loud bargaining going on around them, seller and buyer yelling at each other, shaking fists and spitting into the dust. 

They passed merchants who had spread out their small blankets in front of them to display wares they'd picked out of the garbage or stolen off the streets during the past week — at least that was what O'Neill suspected. There were piles of broken toys, smashed remote controls, pieces of a computer. 

Junk.

They moved on to the used clothing sellers who had piled their stuff into large mountains on top of plastic tables, with crowds of people digging through them, holding up blouses, underwear, pants, and socks, yelling out an offer, and then throwing them back to keep on searching. 

One of the native children who followed the Westerners, begging for chewing gum and money, said something to Daniel and the kid answered, surprising the ill looking little girl by speaking her language.

"What did she say," Jack wanted to know. He only got part of the sentence.

"She warned me not to buy clothes. Said they're from the dead," Daniel explained. 

"Well, they probably are," Jack muttered.

"Yeah. They take them off their bodies before they are even cold,” Jackson confirmed while he was shooing off more children that were gathering around them like the flies on the rotten meat. "When someone dies in Cairo, they don’t sit in the grave clothed for very long, Some are even stripped before they get to the grave.” 

"I heard of doormen who'll call their families if anybody died in the condos. The family comes and takes away everything sell able," Pierson chimed in.

"Yeah. And we don't want to know, really," Jack snorted, pulling the kid away from a table with colorful tunics and head dresses. They weren't here to shop. 

"It is part of the culture," Pierson lectured when they rounded another corner.

"Jack isn't into cultural stuff," the grown up Daniel informed him.

"Of course not," Pierson smiled.

O'Neill snorted again. When neither of them said anything else, he asked, "Are we there yet?"

"It's not far now," Big Daniel replied mildly.

They could hear and smell the live animal market before they reached it. 

"Here, you can find every kind of animal species that survived the trip up from Sudan and Eastern Africa for sale," Pierson said.

And he was probably right. There were monkeys, hawks, badgers, weasels, parrots, fish, all packed to dozens in one cage. Jack spotted a large wire container filled five feet high with desert tortoises. The ones on the bottom were already crushed. Most of the animals in the market looked near death.

It was disgusting on oh-so-many levels. 

Before they left, they saw a very old man selling snakes in all sizes. The high pitched melody of a flute floated through the loud voices and they saw the long swaying body of a cobra coming out of a basket. The snake was moving to the music - or so it seemed. Jack knew snakes were deaf and so the only thing this beast was focusing on was the movement of the instrument. 

Creepy. 

"Hey,... Jackson," Jack hissed. "How long?"

"Two more streets, then we're almost there."

They crossed under a highway and the market began to thin out at this point. Jack felt relieved. They were covered with the gray dirt of the Qarafa and he could smell the garbage odor everywhere. 

Damn, he needed a shower.

*******

When they entered a small tomb, the first thing Daniel noticed was the dog. He looked like a lab, but had large pointed ears and a rather bushy tail. His eyes were dark brown, his coat black and silky. It was a huge dog and he didn’t look anywhere like the half starved flea covered mutts they had seen everywhere outside. He came out of the shadows and immediately wagged his tail as he tried to lick Daniel's hands and nudged a cold nose into his palms. Then he ran over to the other guy and did the same with him. Daniel watched his counterpart patting the dog for a moment and then shooing him off into the tomb.

"Close the door, Adam," adult-him told Pierson, who complied at once.

For a moment they stood in gloomy darkness. There wasn't much light coming through two dusty windows. Then a lamp was lit and they had a chance to take a look around. There was a field bed with a sleeping bag on it, a rotten couch, one battered bookshelf, a transistor radio and a gas stove. A couple of food cans were stored in another shelf. An unlit candle stood on the floor by the couch. The dog had made himself comfortable on the sleeping bag and was watching them attentively. 

It was warm and stifling, but the smell was much better than out in the streets or at the Kahwa. 

"For what it's worth - welcome to my home," the strange Daniel said. He placed the lamp on the coffin and lit the big candle by the couch.

Jack spun around, letting his eyes wander in every corner, assessing the situation and probably figuring out how harmless this place really was. When his eyes darted back to the other Daniel, he said, "I like what you've done to the place."

"Yeah, right," the man answered, shaking his head.

"No, really. It's... cozy."

"Very. If you like living in a tomb. But it's all I have so it's fine."

Jack raised his eyebrows but didn't answer. Instead he opened his arms, taking in the whole scenery. "So? Care to share... anything?"

"It is... complicated. But yes. I'll try. Why don't you sit down?"

Pierson, who had stood guard at the door, came over to them and pulled out the statue. "We have to take care of this first," he said.

"Put it into the coffin," the other Daniel answered.

"They will look there first. It can't stay there."

"No it can't. But for now it will do."

Pierson shrugged and walked over to put the statue away. Then he shrugged out of his tunic. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans underneath. 

Jack sat on the battered couch and motioned Daniel to join him. He slumped down next to the colonel, his eyes never leaving his counterpart once. Pierson and his counterpart settled on thick cushions across from them. When they were all seated around the candle, Daniel couldn't hold back any longer.

"Are you a clone?"

"No. I'm not a clone, I'm... um..."

"An android," Jack guessed. "Bet-ter, strong-er, fast-er?"

"No, Jack, I'm no android either. I'm me, I'm Daniel Jackson. And I got back my old size and life some time ago. It just didn't turn out to be a smart move. That's why I came back in time to fix it and that's why we are now sitting here and everything is very awkward," he said, talking fast, his eyes fixated on little Daniel.

"Time travel," Jack said.

"Fix it?" Daniel scowled, not sure he liked the meaning of that. From what he had heard before, he had a pretty good idea what that meant.

"Yes. Fix it. Messing with the time line," Daniel Jackson, the big one, explained.

"Is that... wise?" Jack asked, his eyebrows climbing to new heights.

"It was your order."

"Oy. Carter must have been... will be... whatever... mad. She's really finicky about that time line thing."

"Yeah, she was. But that's all over now. I got lots of instructions about what I can't do under any circumstances. One of the big no-nos was showing myself to you. I screwed that up, I guess," Doctor Jackson said with a shrug. "Adam was supposed to handle it. But we knew about the mugging and that was why I was waiting outside the catacomb. To prevent them from coming down to you. But I was there early and..."

"And you couldn't resist, coming down and see for yourself what was going on," Pierson snarled. "That was a really dumb idea."

Big Daniel shook his head. "Maybe it wasn't. That way, we got them to listen, right? Anyway... when I came down into the chamber, Jack aimed his gun at me..."

"For crying out loud! You could give a guy a warning," Jack snarled at him. "I could have killed you."

"That's why I zatted you first."

"See, that's just odd. Because last time I checked you are the one who does the talking first and shooting later. Not the other way around."

"I learned from the best." 

Daniel watched them as they glared at each other. Jack looked troubled, his eyes piercing and his jaw tightly set. The other man seemed to be amused rather than upset. 

Finally Pierson cleared his throat, his voice with the British accent calm but firm, as he spoke, "I knew you wouldn't believe me, Jack. But I thought the kid would. I thought Daniel might see or sense I was telling the truth. I couldn't reveal more. Cassandra and Oma sent me on my wa y, but they both told me - as your Major Carter would put it - not to mess with the time line and not to let you know anything that would give away too much about the future. I don't know everything. But I've known both, Oma and Cassandra, for... quite some time now. Oma trusts me and Cassandra... let's just say she knows when she has to look beyond our personal... history and put her.... not so romantic... feelings about me aside."

Daniel tried to put the pieces together. He was tired, hungry and thirsty. The exhaustion made him dizzy. He felt the urge to just lay his head against Jack's shoulder and sleep. But he couldn't. He needed to stay awake and get his mixed emotions under control. 

He looked at Jack, who was observing the other Daniel Jackson, an unreadable expression on his face. But Daniel had seen a look crossing Jack's face... just briefly... He bit his lip, trying not to read too much into that look. Jack was spooked. And angry. But there had been more. Maybe it was just the flickering of the lamp that made Jack's eyes go so soft just for a moment. 

"Let me get this straight," Daniel started after a pause, trying not to think about anything than the situation they were in. "You came back in time to prevent me from getting back my adulthood? I mean... um... Is that it? I can't use the statue even after I figured out the language? I'm not allowed to get big again because of... what? Why? There has to be a good reason for that."

"You'll lose your memories of the time you were a kid," Daniel Jackson said, talking directly to him for the first time. "The Yggdrasil makes you forget about the time you were little. We never figured out why. It didn't say anything about that  i n the writings we found on Tink-ah's planet. It might be a side effect because I was no Svartàl. I have no idea."

Daniel shook his head. "That is sad - well, part of it would be. But it is hardly a reason to do time travel."

"No, it isn't. But something happened to you... me... during this period of time. Something important that makes...  you... made me ... very valuable in the fight against the Goa'uld. And when I turned big again, I lost it. And we were never able to get it back."

"What's that?" Jack demanded to know. He was back in check now. Daniel could see his eyes giving away nothing anymore. Whatever emotions the adult Daniel had sparked, were under control now, tucked away.

Jackson - Daniel had decided to think of him as Jackson from now o n - turned to look at Jack. "I can't tell you. But it will one day help you to defeat the Goa'uld. It is deep in... Daniel's... subconscious. We tried to get it back. Used the Tok'ra memory device and a few other techniques. It didn't work."

"Don't tell them too much," Pierson warned.

"We tried it the other way. It didn't work," Jackson said coolly.

Pierson threw up his hands, got up, and started pacing the tomb.

"Knowledge," Daniel mumbled. "There's knowledge inside my mind... Is that what you are telling me?"

"Yes. You received it  at some  point prior to your Egypt vacation."

“Received – how?” Jack asked sharply. 

"Oma. She put something into my head, didn't she?” Daniel whispered. “She wanted me to ascend. And when I chose differently she said she couldn't make me big again because my journey wasn't over. Something like that.”

“Yes. Something like that. Her plan was for you to join her on the higher plane of existence to do what you are meant to do. But you refused. As the prophecy had predicted,” Jackson agreed. 

The black dog came over and laid down next to Daniel, putting his big head on his thigh. Daniel started stroking his head. "Yes. I remember Oma. But I don't know what she did to me. I have no idea how to access that knowledge. I have no clue what it might be either."

"But it's there. And one day something will trigger your memory and it will reveal itself to you. You have to wait. And that's why you have to stay like this," Pierson said, his voice urgent. 

Daniel gazed down at the dog, who was stretching out on the floor now, apparently enjoying the patting. "What exactly did the prophecy say, Pierson?" 

When he looked up again, the Brit and Jackson exchanged a look.

"Cassandra had a vision over two years ago. She only gave me enough of it to spark my interest. To be honest it took her a while to get me to listen. And even then I wasn't really convinced. But then Oma visited me. And you don't say no to someone that important," Adam Pierson started in a low voice. "They both told me about you, Daniel. About the way you are touched."

"Touched," Jack asked, eyebrows raised.

Jackson blushed and looked down at the candle for a moment, then sighed. "Can we skip that part, Adam?"

"I'm afraid we can't. It's part of the prophecy," Pierson said. 

"Touched?" Jack inquired again.

"The prophecy said Daniel Jackson is playing a central role in the great scheme of things. The way his life went - from an early age on - formed him to become what he is now. They say if a child goes through a painful anguished time, it will alter its life forever. Some get bitter or disordered. Others get lucky and the damage isn't too bad. And then there are few who are blessed with great sensibility and the gift of seeing the good - even in evil. And who want to change the world for others. Or save it. Pure souls." 

"Oy," Jack sighed. "Yeah. That would be Daniel."

Daniel felt the embarrassing heat creep into his cheeks as he gazed down at the dog, while the other scientist was still talking. 

"They aren't free from hate or anger. They are no saints. But they are always willing to give second chances. And they have an ability to listen not only with their minds, but also with their hearts. They are strong and will follow their cause or whatever their goal is. If they believe in something, they believe strongly in it. If they commit to something or somebody they will defend it with their lives. And most of the time they don't value themselves as they should. Others always come first. Now... enough of the pathetic talk. Bottom line is that sometimes humans are like that and sometimes they are meant to be more than normal men or women with ordinary lives. Daniel opened the Stargate. He led the way to the stars. Without Daniel there would be no SGC, no SG-1 and no..."

"No Goa'uld. I opened Pandora's box and let the evil out," Daniel mumbled, thinking this conversation sounded somehow familiar. He believed he had said something similar to Oma. 

"Wrong," Pierson objected sharply. "The Goa'uld have always been there. And it would have been a matter of time until they'd have reached the Tau'ri again. The same goes for the replicators. I think you gave us a margin, made it possible for us to prepare for the inevitable." 

"Yeah, right," both Daniels said as one.

"I think he's right," Jack stated quietly.

Pierson grinned. "Thank you."

"Don't get too smug about it."

"Anyway, where was I... oh yes... Both, Cassandra and Oma, made it clear that Daniel always has been a very special guy. After he visited Kheb, Oma was impressed by what she saw in him. Daniel has the ability to learn. He got over his own ego and was capable of seeing and accepting the truth beyond his own imagination. He was open minded and not afraid to leave the child of his wife in Oma's care."

Daniel looked up, not sure if he was embarrassed or flattered by all this.

Jack waved his hand like he was chasing a fly. "Can we now fast forward to... wherever this is leading to?"

"So Daniel is touched in the meaning of being noticed by the Others. Most of them aren't happy about that, but Oma has a... let's just say she likes Daniel a lot. And she saw the purity in him that singles him out, makes him special. To her he might represent our race, might have proven that we are worth second thoughts. That it's not wasted time to keep an eye on our little meaningless planet. That we will indeed become the fifth race one day."

"Wait a minute. We took those steps before. Jack did it," Daniel interrupted.

"I did?" Jack asked.

"You stuck your head in that Ancient..."

"Oh yeah. Don't remind me."

Daniel nodded. "And you made first contact with the Asgard. The Asgard are part of the alliance against the Goa'uld. We also met the Nox. That left the Furlings and the Ancients. How do the Others play into this? They weren't part of the alliance..."

Pierson said, "One has the knowledge and the other one has the ability to use it. Oma said that. I am just quoting lines here. Nothing more." 

Daniel felt his face scrunch up in concentration. He was missing something here. He felt he was very close to figuring it out; that there were answers in his head. But he couldn't reach them. And he was so tired. 

His counterpart cleared his throat. "We can't tell you everything. We’ve screwed up the time line bad enough already. You have to find all the answers for yourself, Daniel. It's not easy, I know. You need to have faith things will develop as they should. It's all I can offer you. I'm sorry things are so sketchy. Nothing of this was going as planned. Adam was supposed to warn you and convince you - and I was supposed to guard the Yggdrasil until you would come back here in.... maybe two years from now. After everything is solved and the threat is gone."

"How could it go wrong? If there was a prophecy..." Daniel started.

"Prophecies never tell everything. It's a foresight, but pieces are missing. There are gaps. Things can still go wrong. They are only possible ways things can go," Pierson said, tensed.

"Because people have free wills and we can change our fate," Jackson added, "That's why I’m here. To change things." 

"Why?" Jack's voice cut through the silence that had followed the last statement.

Daniel felt his fingers tighten in the dog’s fur, but the animal didn't mind. 

Jack was on his feet, pacing the room like Pierson had done before.

"What?" Jackson asked confused.

"Why? What happened?"

"Is going to happen," Pierson corrected him.

"Whatever... There must be a damn good reason for Hammond to agree to you going back in time. And I bet Carter had a whole lot to say against it. So you might understand why I'd like to get a better picture here," Jack said coldly.

"I can't tell you," Jackson repeated. 

"Can't or won't? You said it yourself; the damage is already done. So spill. Or count us out. Because we'll find another way to get rid of the snakeheads if we have to."

"No, you won't. Because if you had, I wouldn't be here right now," Jackson pressed, his eyes boring into Jack.

"He has a point here, Jack," Daniel sighed, rubbing his face.

"Well, maybe. Doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your chance of getting big again, right? We are warned now. If they give us enough information so we can prepare for whatever will happen whenever it will happen, we can kick ass. We have allies. We can figure something out," Jack snapped.

Daniel shook his head. He was too exhausted to see everything clear enough. The physical and mental stress was just too much. His eight year old body was about to give in. He needed sleep and he felt his self-control slip. It took great effort for him to stay focused. He turned to his counterpart. "What did the Jack in your time line tell you? What exactly happened? Where was the turning point? Have you been in Egypt too?"

"Yes. According to Jack and my journals we came here and Adam contacted us about the statue. He told us about the prophecy and Oma. He tried to explain everything to us as far as he could - without giving away too much. Jack didn't believe him. And I obviously ... didn't want to believe him either. Then we got mugged and after Jack had fought them off, we took the statue home. And since I had met that girl..."

"Anna," Daniel stated.

Jackson nodded. "She was Inuit, right? So, I knew where to look for the language then. And a while after that we went to find the Eagle stone.“

“Yes. I just figured that out, too,” Daniel murmured. "And you lost all the memories of...?" 

"Everything. The last thing I remember was being on the planet where we were before I touched that knob," Jackson replied in a flat voice. "It was like this year had never happened. I was told everything by Sam, Teal'c and Jack and everyone who had been with me during that time. But it didn't trigger anything. I read your... my... journals and got an idea about the time I had been... little. But it was like reading in the life of somebody else."

Pierson, who had walked over to the door again and peered out, closed it now and came back to where they were sitting. "I was waiting for you in Paris. I had no idea when or if you would ever come to ask for the statue. My knowledge of the prophecy and my involvement ended with getting it and hiding it and waiting for you - or so I thought. Then Daniel here contacted me several months ago. In fact it was shortly after I got back to Earth."

"Yeah, and how did you do that, by the way?" Jack chimed in. "Get back to Earth?"

"I used the gate after you were all gone."

"And where exactly did you go?" Jack asked him.

"I had a good hiding place. And many friends. One of them had a ship." Pierson just smiled. 

Jackson continued in his explanation. "We weren't able to work out the time precisely. I didn't catch the right date. So I contacted Pierson and we agreed on waiting for things to happen."

"What made you think Jack and I would believe you this time around," Daniel asked, stifling a yawn.

"We had to try." Jackson shrugged. "Apparently it wasn't possible without making things more complicated. I wanted to keep the gang away that was going to mug you. I figured that would give Adam more time to talk to you. The future me didn't appear the first time around and the guys who wanted the statue found a way to get into the catacombs and as Pierson tried to warn us those guys came down... We grabbed the statue and fought our way back up. Then we left. Back then Jack assumed those guys were with Adam - that it had been a trap of some kind to get both us and the statue. We thought the muggers and Adam worked for the NID."

Daniel blinked and shook his head. "Didn't you consider Pierson might hav e told the truth? I mean, I had my doubts too, but..."

"I wanted my life back. And Pierson was much less specific about the whole prophecy thing the first time around. He kept dropping hints and didn't want to come out with the truth. Later, when we had the statue and fought off the muggers we thought Pierson had just been stalling to give them time to show up and attack us. It all fit very well."

After a short pause he continued. "But you are right, Daniel. I should have listened. Two years from now Anubis will attack Earth....”

“Don't!” Pierson snapped, but Jackson continued.

“I was there. There was absolutely nothing we could have done about it. And it was my fault. Because I had been too quick to just believe we were doing the right thing by taking the statue and finding the eagle stone. Maybe I'm just as egoistical as the next guy when it comes to certain things. And when I got back my old life.... well... I figured out, being big again wasn't worth the price."

Nobody said a word for what seemed to be a long time. 

"He is right," Daniel whispered finally. "Pierson did warn us. But I was mad and I thought he was just p laying with us. I... almost  zatted him again and  took the statue and left with it. I had doubts and some of the things he told us made sense. But in the end all I was thinking of was that...”

“ I t could make  you big again,"  Jackson said flatly.

**XII**

Jack stopped his pacing when he heard Daniel blame himself for something that hadn't even happened yet. The kid lifted his pale face and stared at him. "I'd be responsible for Anubis's success in attacking Earth if Jackson hadn't stepped in." 

"All right, hold it right there," he erupted. He knew he shouldn't yell. But he couldn't help it. "You had no idea Pierson was telling us the truth! We had no reason to believe anything of what he said! He lied to you before."

"Why would I contact you after all that time? Just to play nasty games with you? What kind of sense would that make?" Pierson asked softly. 

Jack turned, jabbing his hand at him. "How should I know? You didn't exactly let us in on your reasons for what you did on that planet when you sent Daniel down into that mountain - why would we trust you now?"

"You know me."

"I don't ’know' you, Pierson. It was nothing more than a fuck for both of us. No strings," Jack said coldly.

Jackson let out a loud bewildered, "What?!"

At the same time, Daniel snarled, “I knew it!”

O'Neill froze for a second, then spun around and faced the two pairs of huge blue eyes staring at him. "I was... aw, crap."

Pierson shook his head. "I liked you, Jack. I liked you a lot. But I had to leave Something came up. And when I returned you were already gone and I just never got around to tracking you down."

"Forget it. It doesn't matter," Jack interrupted. It wasn't really bothering him. There had been no undying love on his part and he cursed himself for letting it slip in front of the Daniels. It wasn't important anymore. It had been a long time ago. 

Jackson went over to a shelf and started pulling out glasses and bottles

O'Neill's eyes darted over to where Daniel was sitting. His small hands were absently roaming over the dog's black fur. He looked worn out, his eyes dark and too big in the small face. 

Jack walked over and sat down beside him. The dog growled deep in his throat. "Hey. I'm his friend, too," Jack told him. Then he called out to the other men, "Listen. Can I ask you guys a favor? Can you give us a few minutes alone?"

Big Daniel placed a glass of water and a bottle of beer in front of them. "We'll wait outside," he offered.

The dog got up, stretching his legs. Then he yawned, showing Jack his sharp fangs. Followed by the black dog, Jackson and Pierson left the tomb through a backdoor. 

"Nice dog," Jack said when the door had closed behind them.

"Yeah. He likes me," Daniel replied with a small smile.

"That's obvious." He brushed the back of his hand over the kid's cheek. "Tired?"

"I'm fine."

"Daniel..." Jack started, not sure he'd find the right words. He grabbed for his small hand and squeezed it. "Look, kiddo... I know what's going on in your head. And I don't want you to even start to think that anything of this is your fault. The guilt trip stops right here, okay?"

"What's going on between you and Pierson?" Daniel changed the subject. 

"Oy," Jack sighed.

That was fast. He thought in all the hassle he would get around that for a while longer. After a moment of thinking, he decided to just go with the truth. There was no reason to hold this back from Daniel. "Remember when we once talked about my first time? When you asked me, who it had been?"

"Yes. You said it was a guy you met in a bar..."

"That's right. I met him in a bar in a town called Seacover. Back then I had some relatives living there. We talked; I was a little drunk, not much though.”

“He knows you like opera.”

Jack shrugged. “We were at the bar together, I complained about the music, he asked me what my favorite kinda music was and so on. The usual stuff. He came on to me, I decided to let him. I was retired for the second time after Abydos. Sara was gone, I had just moved into my new house and was trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life. Abydos kind of changed a lot for me. But I was still not sure, how to go on... what to do. I wasn't depressed anymore. I was just... clueless. And I went to visit some of my folks to... I dunno, re-connect. That didn't go very well, and the night before I was about to leave Seacover, I ended up in that bar."

"And there you met Adam Pierson?"

"We just clicked. It was... great. He had a room. We stayed there for two days. Then he left. Just like that. I was a bit mad at first, but figured it was better that way. I didn't consider myself relationship material after Sara. And I wasn't young or naive enough to think just because he offered himself on a plate to me for some rolling in the hay, we might end up buying a home and living happily ever after," Jack said.

"But you were hurt," Daniel said.

"I got over it. At least he showed me a few things, got me out of the closet. I didn't think I’d return to active duty at the time. And when I did, worrying about my sex life wasn't high on my agenda. We had other things to deal with." 

"He was working at the mountain for some time. But you never told me," Daniel wondered. “Did you recommend him for the program?”

“No. I have on idea where they got hold of him or why. Somehow we kept out of each other’s way for some reason when he showed up at the SGC. It wasn't a problem. Then when we had to get you out of Svartálfheim I was just mad at him for luring you down there," Jack muttered. He nudged his little friend. "Let's get back on topic, kiddo. Stop blaming yourself." 

"Jack, I..."

"Ah, ah... Stop it. Pierson's been talking in funny little riddles since the day he showed up on Tink-ah's planet. There was no reason for us to believe anything he told us. And besides... Jackson is here now, we’re warned and we’ll prevent this from happening. All he has to do is give us the date. We'll find a way."

"We know the way. I'm going to stay like this and one day whatever Oma put into my head will reveal itself to me. Then we have the answers," Daniel said gloomily.

"We'll find another way," Jack insisted.

** Egpyt 17Decisions **

Daniel turned his head and they looked at each other. "They tried. They failed. I don't want to be responsible for it. If Anubis attacks Earth and people die... if he gets the planet under his control because I didn't listen to Pierson and that... other me... I couldn't live with that, Jack. Growing up isn't worth that."

"Now there are two of you. Don't you think that alone makes a difference? Time has already changed."

"I don't want to take any chances, Jack. And how do you know he'll stay? Shouldn't he go back to his time after his work is done here?"

Before Jack could answer, the freaking familiar voice of adult Daniel came from somewhere behind them. "I can't."

Jack turned his head to look at the man standing in the shadows of this tomb that was his home. "Hey - didn't I ask you to..."

“Um, sorry. But we're kinda short on time here. The Yggdrasil isn't safe here. Those guys who mugged us know where I live. If they come here to look for it, they will find it," Jackson explained.

"Pierson can stand guard at the front door," Jack said.

Jackson came a few steps forward. He rubbed his fingertips together and looked a little sheepishly at him. "Actually... he's gone."

"Gone? As in... left? Vamoosed?"

"Uh, ye-ah." Jackson jerked his thumb back over his shoulder and mumbled: "He was in a hurry."

O'Neill threw his head back, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. "Great."

“It doesn't make a difference, does it? He's done what he was here for." Jackson sat down in front of them, on the other side of the candle. He watched them intensely for a moment. 

Jack was still holding the kid in one arm. Daniel didn't make any attempt to get out of the hug. He sat there, his fingers digging into Jack's hand. It was the only sign of tension he showed. 

"You can't go back to your time?" the kid asked.

Jackson shook his head. "It only worked as a one way street. But that's okay. I never intended to go back."

"Maybe Carter can fix the doohickey that brought you here," Jack offered.

"No. There was no doohickey," Jackson explained.

"Then how did you..."

"I can't tell you."

Jack grabbed for the beer. It was warm, but he needed it right now. He nudged Danny and told him to drink something, too. When he nodded, Jack handed him the water and watched as he took a few sips. 

He asked Jackson: "Do you have something to eat?"

The younger man rose to his feet and walked over to his shelves. "A little bread and some fruits. There's no time to heat food, I'm afraid. Sorry. I should have thought about that. You must be hungry."

"You have some chocolate?" Jack wanted to know.

Daniel looked as though his blood sugar needed a little kick. He was too quiet and looked too tired. He hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and it seemed as if all the action and shock of the day were getting under his skin. And they had to make their way back to the car by foot. So he needed the kid to hang in there a little while longer.

"You know me and chocolate," Jackson said.

When he returned, he was carrying a plate with white bread, slices of honey melon and a half melted chocolate bar. 

"Thanks," Jack said when the plate was placed in front of them.

"Sorry. I don't have much. I didn't expect you here. And since I have no fridge, I only have small rations of fresh food here."

"Yeah. What are you doing around here anyway?" O'Neill wanted to know. 

Jackson resumed his place on the other side of the candle. His dog came over and settled down beside him. "When I first came here, I figured this was the best place to live without any ID or job. I started to teach writing and reading to a few kids who don't go to school. Over the weeks the group grew and now I have almost twenty students. Therefore I get food, some clothes, what I need for a living from the parents or the adult students. The people here are very poor. But most of them are friendly and helpful. And I fix things - if I can."

Daniel bent forward and placed his glass back on the table. "You have a lot of friends here, right? That guy who was at our hotel and asked for us..."

"Was a son of Amba. Amba is the old man who runs the Kahwa. I needed to know if you'd really come. I knew the date, but I had to make sure you didn't change your plans." 

"And at the museum... that was you," Daniel guessed.

Jackson nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just... curious. I know it wasn't a smart move. When Jack saw me, I thought you would leave immediately. I'm glad you didn't. Adam was pretty mad at me for taking a glimpse at you. But I couldn't resist it. I..." His voice trailed off and for a moment his face went blank when he seemed to be caught in memories.

Jack let out a soft snort and shook his head. "You've never been good at following orders. Someone should have warned Pierson about that." 

In the light of the big candle he couldn't see it, but he was sure, Jackson was blushing. 

“Funny, Jack, Not,” Daniel muttered. 

O'Neill was sure somewhere deep inside the kid was scared. Jack would be freaked out if he was in Daniel's shoes. Hell, it  _was_ freaking him out. Having this adult version of Daniel sitting here was so damn surreal. And it was not even a Daniel from another reality Not a stranger at all. It was a future Daniel. 

His Daniel. 

His... 

Jack forced his eyes away from the man before his mind could give him thoughts he didn't want. Or feelings he didn't want to have. This was so not working. What irony it was that only a couple days ago he had thought how he wanted them both. Now he was sitting here with both of them. And part of him wanted nothing more than to run. He couldn't stand this.

Little Daniel asked big Daniel, "Will you stay here?"

"I have a life here. I have to find a new place for the Yggdrasil. But yes. I'm staying," big Daniel said. "There is only one thing I need you to promise me."

"What is it?" little Daniel asked.

"When the time comes... Once you've found the knowledge - contact me. I want to be there. I want to help."

"Is that in the prophecy, too?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. But I failed the first time around. I need to make a difference. And I know how it happened. I've already been there," Jackson answered.

"We could take the statue with us," Daniel said. "And hide it. I won't use it. I promise."

"And if the NID gets their hands on it? Nobody knows I'm here except Adam and you. If I stay here with the Yggdrasil, no one will ever know. You have to tell Hammond, Sam and Teal'c. But that’s about it. I'm safer here. And the statue, too," Jackson explained.

"I don't think that's going to work. Hammond will want to talk to you. There's no way we can leave you here. Not if we have to tell them at home. And we have to," Jack reminded him. Oh, he would have liked that. Jackson staying in Egypt meant Jack wouldn't have to deal with him again - not for some time at least. But under the circumstances there was little choice. 

"But, Jack, if we take him with us, General Hammond has to inform the President and then the NID might get wind of it. Can’t we say he escaped together with Pierson? That way he can stay. And if I know the way how to defeat Anubis, we'll contact him and then he can come..."

"That's true. You've done it before, Jack. When you left me on Abydos."

"If I tell them he escaped with Pierson, they're gonna search for him," Jack objected.

"Then tell them I'm dead. And when I show up, I just tell them you were wrong. It wouldn't be the first time I'd come back from the dead," Jackson offered.

"And wouldn't we alter the time line even more if we take him with us?" Daniel added.

Jack threw up his hands in surrender. One Daniel being able to manipulate him was bad enough. Two, he couldn't handle. Not right now.

"All right, all right." he gave in. "But you have to tell us  where you're going to hide the statue. Just in case something happens to you. And we need a way to stay in touch."

"Adam said you can contact him at the bar in Paris if necessary," Jackson said. "And I will call you if something happens here."

"The statue," Jack pressed.

"I know where to hide it," Jackson said.

O'Neill rubbed a hand over his face. He wasn't happy about the way things were going. At the same time he was glad Jackson was going to stay as far away from them as possible. Yet, he felt responsible for him. He was Daniel. He couldn't leave him behind. It didn't feel right. It felt wrong all over.

"Jack, I've been living here for months now. Nothing will happen to me. This part of Cairo isn't a safe place and the people aren't all nice. But I can defend myself and I have friends here. It's okay. I might even be safer here than in Colorado where the NID would love to have a chat with me," Jackson said as though he had read his thoughts. 

Daniel tugged at his arm. "We should leave," he said.

Jack shook his head. "First you eat something. I can't have you pass out on our way back. We might have to run."

"I'm not hungry. I'm fine."

"Eat."

"Jack..."

"Daniel."

"I can't eat his dinner," Daniel insisted stubbornly.

"Um, it's okay. I don't have to eat anything right now. I'm not hungry," Jackson said.

"But it's yours. You can't just..."

"No no no. Jack's right. You eat it. You look a little pale."

O'Neill rolled his eyes. "Fer cryin' out loud." He grabbed the plate. Pushing it into Daniel's lap he ordered. "I want you to eat some bread and two slices of melon. And half of the chocolate."

"You can have all the chocolate. It's going to melt anyway," Jackson said with a smile.

Daniel opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. He picked up the chocolate and ripped the wrapper open. "I’ll eat the chocolate."

Jack snatched the candy from his hands. "Bread or fruit first. One slice of each. Your blood sugar needs that. It's hot and you didn't have any lunch."

"Yeah? What about your blood sugar? You didn't have any lunch either. Who is forcing you to eat," Daniel growled.

"Fine," Jack huffed. This was really ridiculous. He picked up a slice of melon and ate it. The fruit was sweet and fresh. Very delicious. After he had swallowed a piece of bread too, he glared at Daniel. "Satisfied? Now if you're finished throwing a fit, eat and then we can go."

Frowning, Danny started to eat the melon first. Jack watched him while he nibbled at the fruit, indignation all over his face. He sighed and patted Daniel's back to take the edge off his words. After a moment the munchkin seemed to get over his bad mood and started eat ing more enthusiastically.

"I'll show you the shortest way out of the Qarafa," Jackson said when Daniel had finished the bread and was munching the chocolate.

Jack was satisfied to see the kid looked much more awake now.

Big Daniel went over to the coffin, pushed the heavy cover stone aside and retrieved the Yggdrasil. He hid it under his tunic, along with the zat. "I'll take it. And we can take Flyboy with us."

Jack blinked. "Who?"

When a wet nose pressed against his hand, he looked down and met the brown eyes of Jackson's four pawed friend.

"You're kidding, right?” He wasn't sure if he felt insulted or not.

Daniel giggled. 

Once they had made sure the street was free of suspicious people, they hurried down a small alley. The sun was setting and everything was dipped in an orange light. Jack could hear several calls for prayers from the nearby mosques. 

He took Daniel's hand again as they moved quickly. Flyboy was running ahead of them, waiting at every corner until they caught up. 

A few minutes later they entered another tomb. Jack made a vow to himself to avoid any tombs as much as possible in the future. He hated tombs. He hated dead people in coffins. And he sure as hell wouldn't visit any museum with coffins ever again. He was fed up with tombs. And coffins. Period.

This one was as gloomy as the others. They walked out of it through a second door. Then crossed a paved inner courtyard. Tufts of weed grew between the flagstones. 

"There's a hidden room in this tomb. The sheikh who was buried here used his tomb as a hiding place. When his enemies came to attack his families he'd bring them here and hide them in secret compartments," Jackson explained as they entered another building.

"What was his name?" Daniel asked interested.

"I'm not sure. But he was related to Sahure, I think," Jackson said.

"Sahure? That’s interesting. Do you know..." 

Jack zoned out when the two Doctor Jacksons started discuss ing ancient Egyptian sultans and their family history. He spun around and walked back to the small entrance when he heard a low growl beside him. 

Looking down his nose he saw Flyboy standing next to him, staring out into the yard. The dog sensed something, his ears twitched nervously. 

“Hey, what's up?” Jack asked, peering into the almost dark courtyard to make out what had alerted the dog. He felt the hairs on his neck rise. Slowly he pulled his gun from his jacket.

Footsteps?

Pressing himself flat against the wall, Jack craned his neck to look out.

Flyboy growled deep in his throat. 

There were too many shadows in the courtyard. 

Jack couldn't hear anything, but the chatter of the two Daniels inside. In a low voice, he called out for them that he'd check the yard. Jackson rushed over, his tone worried when he asked, "Trouble?" 

"I don't know. Stay with Danny," Jack murmured back. “And be quiet.”

Without making a sound he slipped into the darkness, staying in the shadows of the tomb walls. He walked alongside the building and hid between two pillars. 

There.

A moving shadow. Almost invisible in the growing darkness.

Crap. Why hadn't he noticed they were followed again? O'Neill's eyes locked on a hunched over figure scurrying from cover to cover.

He left the pillars and met the guy on his way to the entrance. A swing of his fist sent the stranger flying backwards. Jack was on him in a heartbeat, spun him around, grabbed his arms and threw the guy face first into the dirt.

Jack got to his feet, yanking the intruder up with him. He was about to give him another punch, when the man started to talk in broken English with a very young and scared voice. "Please... not hurt me... please?"

O'Neill let out a curse and dragged the young man over to the building.

"Who sent you?" he snarled. 

As if to underline his words, Flyboy was suddenly at Jack's side, baring his teeth as he let out a warning bark. The mugger tried to take a step away from the dog, but was firmly held in place by Jack. 

"I... I... sent by others to..." he stuttered, his voice shaking with fear. "Danyel has golden statue. Abdul say is very value. Brings lots of money."

Before Jack could ask any more questions, Jackson showed up next to him. He was holding a lamp into the wide-eyed face of a young Egyptian. "Kesi, what are you doing here?" 

Kesi answered with a stream of Egyptian words. Jackson nodded and then explained, "Abdul is his older brother. They are both my students and grandsons of Amba. Kesi said he was sent after us to see where we'd hide the statue. The guys who mugged us at the other tomb were Abdul's men, too. Abdul had a deal with an American to get the Yggdrasil. He was promised many dollars for it."

"Who?" Jack wanted to know.

"I don't know. White man. Expensive clothes. Just saw him once..." Kesi spluttered, then turned back to Jackson and started babbling again.

Jack could only make out a few things. Egyptian Arabic was slightly different from the Arabic he knew from his stay in Iraq and the classes he had to take before he'd been sent there. While he was able to make simple conversation, he couldn't keep track of the whole meaning of words in this rambling.

Jackson listened carefully and then said, "We have to leave. Now."

"What?" Jack snapped.

"NID, I think. Let's go."

"What about him?"

Jackson let out a deep breath and shook his head. "We can't hold him here and I don't have another rope with me. We have to let him go. He will warn Abdul. But we ’ll  have some margin." 

Jack looked down at Flyboy, who was standing guard next to him. "Maybe the dog can keep him here for a while," he said.

"Yes. Until we're out of sight. It might work." 

Adult Daniel patted the dog's head and gave him the order to stay and watch. Flyboy sat down and growled at the mugger, who pressed himself against the brick wall of the tomb when Jack let go of him. 

“That's a great dog,” Jack said, earning a smile and a nod from adult Daniel. 

The kid was waiting for them inside, holding the Zat in his hands when they entered.

"It’s us, Daniel," Jackson called out for him.

"What's going on?" 

"We had a visitor," Jack said. 

Jackson walked over to a wall and opened a hidden door. He went inside a dark chamber and came back a moment later carrying the statue. He tucked the golden tree away in his tunic.

"This was the safest place I had in mind," he said thoughtfully. "Now that Kesi followed us, we can't leave it here either." 

"Now - what," Jack asked tersely.

"Uh... plan B?"

"There's a plan B?"

"You say there's always a plan B," Daniel chimed in.

Jack shrugged. "Okay. Plan B. Run."

Jackson blinked. "Running is good. You have a car?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

They left the tomb through another exit and when they had crossed a few streets, Jackson stopped and put his fingers into his mouth. He let out a shrill loud whistle. A few moments later, the tall black dog emerged from the shadows of the buildings and joined them. 

_Really a great dog_ , Jack thought.

***

Daniel was running.

Jackson led them through the complicated maze of the Qarafa, Jack was behind him and Flyboy at his side. And while the men were walking fast, he had to run to keep up with them. His legs became heavier and heavier with every step. His whole body seemed to protest and he felt tears sting in the back of his eyes. But he didn't stop running. Even though he was getting a stitch in his side. 

When he stumbled over his own feet, he thought he'd fall. But he was caught and scooped up by Jack, who didn't stop going.

Hanging on to Jack's neck, his legs around his middle, Daniel tried not to think about the fact he was slowing them down. He tried not to hold onto Jack too tight while they were crossing streets and places.

“Jackson," Jack hissed a moment later. "What did that guy, Kesi, tell you?"

"Abdul has been in contact with someone for some time now. They were observing me. I guess someone from the NID is paying Abdul and his gang on a regular basis to spy on me. I... I thought they were my friends. I had no idea. And I have no clue how someone could know about my being here."

"The NID was after Pierson too," Daniel chimed in. "Maybe they found out you contacted him about the statue. And then they followed both of you."

"Yes, we knew about the NID. But Pierson was positive they didn't know where he was," Jackson said as they crossed another bright street. 

"They knew when he was back on Earth. And that was in June," Jack told him, remembering the briefing with Simmons all too well.

"Then they have a source we don't know of. Maybe someone Adam knows and trusts. This is bad. I can't stay here anymore." Daniel's counterpart sighed, annoyed.

"What does the NID want with the Yggdrasil?" Daniel wondered. He leaned his head against Jack's neck and tried to find a more comfortable position. 

"I don't know. But it's a power source, too. It can send out high-energy waves. Sam studied it after we brought it in. Took me months to learn the Inuit language and find the stone. And during that time Sam found out what made it tick. After I grew up, we tried to analyze it some more to find out why I had the memory loss. No luck with that."

Jack shifted him upwards a little. "I can walk again," Daniel blurted out. 

"That's okay, buddy," Jack said reassuring. 

"It is not far now. You came through the south entrance?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah. The car is parked near that monument we had to pass," Jack confirmed.

When they reached the exit of the Qarafa a moment later, Daniel felt more than a little relived.

They hurried to get into the car and Jack steered them onto the crowded highway. Daniel was in the backseat with Flyboy. The dog snuggled into his side and he was grateful for the soft body to cuddle. 

"Is there a place where I could leave you and Daniel for some time? Do you know people who live outside the Qarafa?" Jack asked Jackson.

"Um, no. I rarely left the Qarafa."

"I need to contact Hammond. We have to get outta here as soon as possible. If that Abdul calls his contact, we're not safe anywhere anymore," Jack explained, tensed.

Daniel watched the lights of the other cars passing by. He was still tired, but too anxious to fall asleep. His mind kept mulling over thousands of questions at once. If the NID had known about the future Daniel and Pierson's whereabouts, why did they wait until now to do something? 

Maybe to avoid attracting too much attention? Maybe they were after the statue? So they had to corrupt some of the poorest people close to Jackson, to spy on him and find out where it was? And then they'd have stolen it after some time had gone by? Or they wanted to find out why Jackson was here and how the time traveling worked. Perhaps they not only wanted to get the statue, but Jackson himself? To question him? Obviously the NID was more interested in the adult Daniel and the Yggdrasil than in Jack and him right now. They had never made an attempt to kidnap him at any time at home. But apparently they'd been watching Pierson and Jackson for some time. 

Daniel used to think Jack was a little too worried about his safety and that he could go out alone without being in danger. He'd argued several times over the last months that he was able to go into the public library alone, or visit a museum if Jack would just drive him there and pick him up later. Sometimes it was a little overbearing to be accompanied by his friend all the time. Okay, he had his alone time at the mountain. Jack let him be on his own in his office or wherever he was on base most of the time. And he had his privacy in his room or the tree house, too. But whenever he was going out into town or anywhere, Jack came along as his guard dog. He kept telling Daniel it was because of his obvious age and size. That it would be odd for other people to see him walking around the Springs alone. And that the police might pick him up and take him home, thinking he was lost or a runaway. All of that might be true. But he knew Jack was worried and wanted to watch his six. That was the reason why he was so strict and adamant about Daniel's habit of wandering off, too. 

And as much as Daniel appreciated it and as much as he knew it was the right thing to do, he'd often been annoyed about it.

Now, he started thinking maybe being watched and protected wasn't such a bad thing after all. And it wasn't as if he didn't like being with Jack. It was just something he missed sometimes; being able to take a walk - alone. Going shopping when he wanted - alone. It was another part of being independent he had to give up. 

Well, now he had to wait another two years maybe. Then he was ten. And hopefully if Jackson's calculations were right, he'd be able to use the statue some time after day X....

Maybe he could already start to learn Inuit and locate the missing eagle stone in between. That way he'd be ready to get big again if the time was there. 

In the meantime... two years... Daniel sighed silently. That was a long time to live as a kid. He hated being so restricted. What was he going to do? Working on translations all the time? They wouldn't let him go through the gate again, no matter how much Teal'c exercised with him. Maybe he should try to learn to enjoy kiddie-stuff. But the thought scared him. What if he got too used to being a kid? And could he ever bear hanging out with other kids? Nope, he decided. That wasn't going to happen. Sure, Tink-ah had been a great kid and even Anna wasn't that bad... Maybe he could stay in touch with her. Though with her dad being a diplomat and working for the embassy, she'd probably move away from Colorado soon... 

Daniel blinked. "Jack! I know where we can go!" 

"Where?"

"The embassy. They'll protect us. From there you can call Hammond."

"Yeah, I've been thinking of that, Daniel. And what if whoever from the NID is the contact of that Abdul, works there?"

"Call Hank," Daniel said.

"Hank?" Jack frowned.

"Hank Walker. He's a diplomat. I don't think he's involved in this.... I mean... I'm confident he isn't," Daniel explained.

"No, he is not," Jackson confirmed his thoughts. "That's a great idea. He  once worked with Joe Faxon by the way. I know that because Hank became involved with the Stargate program later."

"Who?" Jack asked absently while he was observing the cars that were passing them.

"Joe was the ambassador who represented Earth during the negotiations with the Ashen on the Volian home world," Daniel helped.

"Ah... that guy. I remember the suit. And the shoes," Jack muttered. Then he fingered his ph one from his jacket and dialed the Pyramisa Inn. It took a moment until he was put through to the Walker's room and then he had to explain the situation to Hank in as few words as possible. 

Daniel was anxious to just take over the phone and do it himself. But the chance of Walker listening to the brat who had poured orange juice over his daughter were very slim. He heard Jack talking about military and security clearance while they were still driving on the highway. 

"Yes, we have our IDs with us... yeah. Major General George Hammond, Cheyenne Mountain... oh, and by the way, I know you worked with Joe Faxon. We've met. Actually we worked together, too, once.... yeah... nice guy... yeah, I know he's missing... listen, Hank... can you meet us at the embassy? Make a call to Hammond and don't tell anybody. It's classified."

When Jack had hung up, Jackson grabbed the map of Cairo that was lying on the car's dashboard and started direct ing them to the US embassy.

  
  


Walker was already there when they arrived. And he'd already called Hammond. Daniel didn't pay much attention to his surroundings when they were ushered down a bright corridor inside the impressive building. Walker explained how he and Hammond were working on getting them a flight home as soon as possible. He didn't ask many questions and Jack was obviously not willing to give away too much of his own.

"The general wants a short report from you, though," Anna's father explained as they were taken to a room that looked a lot like the VIP quarters at the SGC.

Jack nodded his agreement and turned to Daniel. Ruffling his hair, he told him, "Get some sleep, buddy." 

"I could come with you," Daniel offered eagerly. He glanced over to Jackson, who was looking strangely out of place wearing that old tunic in this neat furnished room with air conditioning and blue carpets. Daniel wasn't really keen on being alone with the other "him." He felt the childish urge to grab Jack's arm and beg him not to go away.

"You can hardly keep your eyes open." Jack pointed over to the bed. "Lie down. I'll call Hammond and be right back."

Daniel yawned. The bed looked very appealing. And they were probably safe, so he could afford to rest until they were picked up. He took a few steps towards it, then stopped and looked over to Jack, who was already at the door. Walker waited outside and Jackson walked into the attached bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Daniel swallowed hard. He really really didn't want to be alone with Jackson. 

It was just awkward. What were they supposed to talk about? How was he supposed to act  around himself? Until now there hadn't really been time to think about the whole enormity of the situation. But now Daniel's mind started to assess the meaning of this. There was another Daniel Jackson. An adult Daniel. This other guy was here and would stay in their time line. And all of a sudden it was just too much for Daniel to take in. And he hadn't even started to really think about the whole Anubis attack threat yet. 

"Jack," he heard himself say in a shaky voice. "You sure you don't need my help with the report? Hammond might want to talk to me."

"It's just a phone call, Daniel. I think I can handle..." Jack stopped and looked at him, frowning. Then he sighed and called out for Jackson that they'd be back soon.

Walker led them into an office and left to make further arrangements for their journey home. 

Jack sat down at a desk and without thinking about it, Daniel climbed into his lap. He leaned back against his friend and nestled his head under Jack's chin as he listened to the conversation that took place between the colonel and Hammond, who wasn't exactly happy about the events. Jack was giving him a short rundown of the situation and somewhere down the line, Daniel fell asleep.

When he woke, everything was dark around him. He needed a moment to realize that he was at the embassy in Cairo, in a VIP room. Someone was shaking his shoulder.

"G'way," he groaned. He was still so tired. His mouth felt like it was filled with cotton and he was thirsty. His head hurt, too. Aside from that he felt smelly and dirty. 

“You have to get up, Daniel." Jack's voice. "We’re going home."

Then something wet slobbered across his face and when he opened his eyes, he looked at Flyboy, who was pulled away at his neck fur by Jack.

Daniel groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. "Home?" 

"We’re getting a flight."

Very slowly he came around and the memories returned, too, as Jack helped him up. Daniel was still too sleepy to do much by himself. He let Jack put on his shoes and tie them and it took him another five minutes to wake up enough so he could go to the bathroom and take a leak and splash cold water into his face. 

Jackson and Jack were already waiting for him at the door and together they made their way out of the building. Anna's dad accompanied them to their car, where he and Jack shook hands.  A driver was busy loading suitcases into the trunk and Daniel realized it was their luggage. 

"Have a good flight home, Colonel," Hank said briskly.

"Lose the colonel," Jack answered with a smile. "You just saved our sixes, you know. Thanks for the help.  And thanks for getting out stuff here, too. "

"I don't really know what's going on here. But I'm glad I could help," Hank replied. Then he smiled at Daniel. "Maybe Anna and you could visit once we have moved to Colorado."

"Yeah. That would be nice," Daniel answered.

After Hank had said his goodbyes to his counterpart, too, Daniel climbed into the backseat and a moment later, Jack joined him, squeezing in with the large dog, while Jackson took a seat in the front by the driver. 

Then they were on their way to the airport.

"What did Hammond say?" Daniel asked. 

"Well, he wasn't happy. But everything's covered. Walker helped a lot with the Egyptian military administrations. The good news is that we don't have to worry about customs or waiting in a line at the airport. They'll just wave us through and we have our own plane."

"And the bad news?"

"We have to go straight to the mountain. Lots of reporting to do. So I guess we'll spend our first night home on base."

"That's okay. What about him?" Daniel pointed at the front seat with his chin.

"Well, he's with us now." Jack shoved Flyboy’s head out of the way when a wet tongue was trying to lick his ears. “So is this beast, I’m afraid. At least Hammond made sure we won’t have to stick him into quarantine for weeks. Normal check up at a vet will do. Special occasion.”

They fell silent for a moment. 

Finally Jack said, "Look, I... just... I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"When we left Jackson's tomb I should have known they were waiting for us somewhere and go after us. I was..."

"Worried about me, I know," Daniel mumbled.

"You've been through an awful lot of trouble today. I was kind of worried and so I wasn't paying enough attention to what was going on around us," Jack said quietly.

"So I proved myself unfit for field duty again, right?" Daniel whispered, trying to fight back the anger.

"Daniel... what are you talking about?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? You worry about me. I'm too little and too weak. This body doesn't fit in. And when we were running from the Qarafa, you had to carry me because I was slowing us down. If they had caught us..." 

Jack placed a finger under his chin and made him look up. Daniel couldn't make out Jack's eyes in the darkness of the car. But when he spoke his voice was very serious. "They didn't catch us. And you didn't prove yourself unfit for anything. It's more the opposite. You're tough, Daniel. Real tough. It was me. I had to watch your six, but I should've paid attention anyway. So I screwed this one up."

"No, you didn't," came Jackson's firm voice from the front. "As you said. They didn't get us. And I didn't realize we were followed either."

"You were taking the lead. I was at your backs," Jack said, voice gruff.

"And I know the Qarafa far better than you do," Jackson fired back. "I should have known where they would hide and how they’d make themselves invisible."

Daniel slumped back against the soft seat of the roomy car. He closed his eyes and muttered, "Let's agree on that we all had an awful long day." 

Flyboy let out a sympathetic yelp.

**Epilogue**

  
  


"They don't know what to do with me. I don't know what to do with myself."

Daniel Jackson, six foot tall, now shaved and dressed in green fatigues was standing in the briefing room, staring out of the big window into the gate room.

Jack wasn't sure if the younger man realized that these were exactly the words Daniel had said so many years ago after he had left Abydos. 

Back then O'Neill had taken him home.

He remembered them sharing a few beers in  his living room. Remembered the lost looking young man babbling nonsense about beer, allergies and gate lag...

This time things were different.

This Daniel Jackson didn't look like the skinny slumped figure from six years ago. He was broader and the BDUs didn't hang loosely around him anymore. 

But the look in his eyes was the same.

Lost.

And even though he wasn't really hugging himself, he had his arms crossed over his chest tightly and the line between his eyes was too deep. 

But Jack wasn’t going to take him home. 

He already had a Daniel to take home with him.

A pale , little Daniel with dark circles under his eyes.

Right now the kid was curled up in one of the big black briefing chairs, sleeping, his glasses lying on the table. After the long flight and the exhausting briefing, he just couldn't stay awake any longer. He had been drifting in and out of sleep on the plane as well, but it hadn’t been a comfortable sleep. There had been periods of time where he had just stared out of the window. Jackson had pretended to sleep most of the time. But Jack knew he’d been wide-awake and just felt too awkward to talk. 

"They will think of something," O'Neill said in the stillness of the room.

Hammond had left a couple of minutes ago to wipe the sweat from his bald head and do the urgent calls to make the new Doctor Jackson legal.

Carter was recovering from the shock of seeing the time line abused. She was off in her lab analyzing the Yggdrasil before it was taken under security guard.

Teal'c was still sitting at the table, across from the sleeping Daniel. He had been his usual stoic self during the briefing. Now he got up and walked over to where Jackson stood. "DanielJackson." 

Jackson turned and looked at him. "Yes, Teal'c?"

"GeneralHammond will see to it that your skills and knowledge of the Stargate program and the cause of the Tau'ri will be used efficiently. You are very valuable to this world, no matter the time line. And we are still your friends. You are not alone." 

There was a shadow of a smile on Jackson's face. "Thanks Teal'c."

Teal'c bowed his impressive head and left the room. He was a man of few words. It was something Jack liked about him. T made his point and that was it. 

O'Neill stuffed his hands into his pants pockets and tried to think of a few words he would have to say to this grown up Daniel. 

Nothing came to mind.

He was tired.

Right now all he wanted to do was take his Daniel home and crash in bed for ten hours of good sleep. Then shower, have breakfast. Just being home. 

No tombs, no coffins, no sand - and no big Daniel.

Normal life.

Jack realized he'd had more pieces of normal life since Daniel got little. Somehow the normality of life had become different for him. A year ago, this last day in Egypt would have been part of normal life. It was what they did. Running, shooting, hiding, fighting, saving the world... the whole package. That was normality for SG-1. 

But things had changed.

Oh, they were still out there, still running and fighting and saving the world. 

But it seemed he was spending more time doing everyday stuff these days. He had more free time due to the fact he had become a guardian. And without Daniel Jackson on the team, trouble had become much less. Sometimes he was glad about it, sometimes he missed it. 

Jack remembered he had thought about retirement again, not so long ago. Or maybe taking a desk job. Being here for Daniel. 

Now with the knowledge of what would happen in the future, those plans were probably shot to Netu again. 

In agreement with a furious Major Carter, Jackson had been very reluctant in revealing details about Anubis's attack. He was even holding back about the date. Two years from now. Maybe a few months more or less. That was all he was willing to give them. And that SG-1 and Dan iel were going to play a central role in defeating him. 

But the threat of Anubis and his plans to attack Earth were too surreal right now. Jack caught himself staring at Jackson's back. He had turned towards the window again, gazing at the gate once more.

There had to be something he could say. 

Right?

This was Daniel.

Jack couldn't just go and leave him here without a word.

Jackson was the odd man out. Not a prisoner, but not allowed to walk out of the mountain. As long as things were sketchy and he wasn't a legal citizen again, he would be a "guest" on base.

"Look... Daniel," he started awkwardly, stumbling over the name.

"You can call me Jackson. It's okay," the guy said without turning around.

"Right. Jackson..." Jack had still no idea what he wanted to say. Now that they weren't in the middle of a situation anymore, things were difficult. After everything was said and done - what do you do with a guy who used to be your lover for three years, then became your kid and now was... back in full height and strength - while the kid was still here, too... 

The kid was his Daniel. 

And that Doctor Jackson.... wasn't.

Yet, he was.

There was a headache coming. Jack could feel it. 

Hammond came out of his office, addressing Jackson. "I just talked to the president. Your request will be considered. Until I get word from Washington you have to stay in one of the VIP quarters here on base. I am sorry. But this is all I can do for you right now. Hopefully things will be clearer by morning."

Jackson turned to look at the general. "Thank you, sir."

"You’re welcome, son." After a pause, the general continued. "I know you requested to be assigned to Area 51. But don't you think your place is here? You are after all part of this program. I'm sure we can arrange for you to get assigned to one of the other teams, as soon as your identity is cleared and you are a legal member of this facility again."

Jack let his eyes wander around the briefing room. He tried not to give away how glad part of him was that Jackson didn't want to stay on base. The future Daniel had made it very clear from the beginning that he was not going to take Baxter's or Daniel's place on SG-1. He insisted - again with Carter’s firm agreement - he had to stay away from the mountain and the lives of those who were involved in the future events as much as possible.

And Jack wanted him to stay away.

Far away.

Jackson shook his head and once again declined the offer he had been given before. "I really can't. I appreciate it, but really... I'm sorry. I shouldn't even be here. You shouldn't even know I am here. But now that it's happened, I have to focus on damage control."

Hammond gave a short nod at that. "Of course you have to do that. But you think you could help us when the time is there? Without doing more damage? Major Carter wasn't so sure about that."

"She is probably right. But I have to be here. It’s the only request I make."

"We will see to it, Doctor Jackson," Hammond said.

"Thank you, sir."

"I'll call an airman to take you to your quarters. I know you know the way. But this is standard procedure," Hammond explained almost apologetically. 

Jack gazed at the ceiling.

He didn't have to escort Jackson to his quarters, right? An airman would do just fine. 

Damn.

"I'll take him," he heard himself say. "If you could stay with Daniel and the dog for the time being, sir?"

Flyboy was sleeping, too, under the briefing room table. 

"Of course I will, Colonel," Hammond said.

When they were riding down in the elevator, Jackson leaned back at the wall and watched him. Jack felt uncomfortable under those blue eyes that seemed to know him so well.

"You didn't have to do that, Jack."

"It's okay," he said. He pulled out his magnetic card and started to wipe some imaginary dust from it with the sleeve of his shirt. 

"I'll stay away."

"I know."

The elevator stopped and they walked down a corridor.

When they reached the quarters, Jack opened the door and waved Jackson in. "Here we are. The fruit basket will be delivered shortly and the ocean view is priceless," he quipped.

"Thanks. I love an ocean view."

"Yeah, well. We do our best."

Jack watched big Daniel slump on the bed. He looked as worn out as the kid - and Jack wasn't really wide-awake either. 

An awful long day.

Right.

"Get some sleep," Jack said.

"Yeah. I should. It's... nice to have a room with a king sized bed and a shower for a change," Jackson smiled.

"You have to think positive. Bed, shower, commissary... "

"It's like a five star hotel for me."

"Except for Fraiser and her mean needles maybe," Jack grinned.

Jackson had been in the infirmary before the briefing. Doc had pulled his insides out. Then she had confirmed that there was no doubt about Daniel Jackson being - Daniel Jackson. 

But to his surprise, the adult Daniel didn't return his grin. Instead he shook his head and rubbed his jaw absently. "Believe me, Jack. Seeing Janet was one of the positives in this whole mess."

O'Neill raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything to that. Maybe he was better off not knowing. Instead he scratched the back of his head and started to think of something to say for a quick goodbye without sounding too desperate to leave.

"Listen, I have to go, get Daniel home. He's pretty worn out. And I think that dog of yours needs a bath, flea powder, and some worm pills."

"Sure. I'm fine. As soon as I get out of here, I'll send someone to pick Flyboy up. Um... thanks for taking him in by the way. The base is just no place for a dog."

Jack nodded, then stood there, his hand on the doorknob.

"See ya around," he said casual.

Jackson smiled tiredly.

O'Neill turned and opened the door. When he stepped out on the corridor, he heard the archaeologist call him back. Reluctantly he turned again.

Jackson looked as if he was afraid to ask, when he spoke. "Are you two... doing okay? I mean... you seem to get along. I was just... I don't... Oh, never mind. I was just curious, that's all." 

"Oh, you know what it is like. Me, Daniel..." Jack shrugged, then gave the other man a quick smile. "We're doing fine."

With that he left.

He had someone waiting for him.

When he returned to the briefing room, Daniel was awake. He sat in the too big chair, rubbing his eyes. Hammond read through the briefing protocol, a deep frown on his face.

Flyboy came out from under the table and greeted Jack with a wave of his tail and a quick lick to his hands.

The general looked up and let out a deep sigh. "Colonel, I want you to go home and take a long rest. I’ll call you tomorrow as soon as I get news from Washington. And we have to wait and see what Major Carter finds out about the statue." 

"Yes, sir," Jack confirmed.

"This is a very awkward situation. Even for SG-1," Hammond pointed out.

"I know, sir."

"I can't even begin to think of the long term consequences an altered time line might have. Major Carter was very concerned. And even though I am not that familiar with the physics on this, I can imagine the impact might be unpredictable."

"Well," Jack said while his fingers stroked through Flyboy’s black fur. "We won't know, right? If we alter the time line, it's our reality from now on. And since we have no idea what the other time line would look like - at least for the time after Anubis tries to attack us - ... who cares? Sir."

Hammond gathered his papers together and got up. "Do you really think it's that simple, Jack? Major Carter was very worried."

"No, sir. But sometimes I'm just happy I'm not as smart as Carter and therefore am not able to see all the scary consequences of the grandfather paradox."

That, however, lured a lopsided smile on the general's face. Shaking his head, he wished them a good night and walked back into his office.

When they were alone, Jack gazed down at Daniel.

His Daniel.

And Daniel gazed up at him. "We need to go shopping tomorrow."

"We do?" Jack asked as they left the briefing room, followed by the dog.

"Sure. Flyboy needs a leash. And toys. And food. Who knows when Jackson is going to pick him up..."

"You know it's his dog, right? We can't keep him."

"I know that. But he still needs all those things, right?" Daniel yawned.

Jack nodded while they were waiting for the elevator that would take them to the surface. "Yep. So we’ ll go shopping. Tomorrow."

"Mmmh... Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I think it's sad he can't remember this," Daniel mumbled.

Apparently Daniel was forgetting that he, too, wouldn't remember any of this, once he got big again. But Jack didn't point it out. He didn't even want to think about it. So he just said, "You do? And by the way... how do ya feel about all this, kiddo? You okay?"

Instead of an answer, Daniel shoved his hand into Jack's. Then when they walked past the checkpoint and towards the waiting car, he said, "I don't know how I feel, or if I'm okay. But right now, all I wanna do is go home."

Jack smiled.

Yeah.

Going home was good.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This Series continues with "Still Jack and Daniel Series 2 - No Yellow Brick Road (3-7)/Ghosts of the Past (1-6)"


End file.
